Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Viruses, hackers and crackers
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Anakha56
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Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by Anakha56 »

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/20 ... mpaign=rss
Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
By Kim Zetter, wired.com

A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.

“We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. “We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”

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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by naughty »

“We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”
famous last words until someone takes control of it and turns it back to attack where it came from

BUT

you want to really know whats more terrifying ..... ie scarier than these things having a virus is this little statement from the article

"all told, these drones have killed more than 2,000 suspected militants and civilians, according to the Washington Post."

so who the heck decides who is suspicious and who isnt - whats to stop them from dropping a bomb on you with one of these remote controlled toys just cos you didnt pay a parking ticket :shock:
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by hamin_aus »

naughty wrote:whats to stop them from dropping a bomb on you with one of these remote controlled toys just cos you didnt pay a parking ticket :shock:
I guess the fact that every sortie these things fly costs the US millons of dollars :?:
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by jee »

not if one clever young hack remotely takes the thing over one fine evening.....
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by naughty »

jamin_za wrote:
naughty wrote:whats to stop them from dropping a bomb on you with one of these remote controlled toys just cos you didnt pay a parking ticket :shock:
I guess the fact that every sortie these things fly costs the US millons of dollars :?:
when has the danger of over-spending ever prevented the americans from being profligate with their taxpayers money?

hell .... i may even now be a target for one of these drones if they read this thread :P :lol:
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by hamin_aus »

Can I have your stuff once they have eliminated you as a threat :?: :P
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by KALSTER »

At least it would be a somewhat cool death. Better than cancer, a car crash or some other banal mode of death.
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Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet

Post by Anakha56 »

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... mpaign=rss
Get hacked, don't tell: drone base didn't report virus
By Noah Shachtman, wired.com | Published 29 minutes ago

Officials at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada knew for two weeks about a virus infecting the drone “cockpits” there. But they kept the information about the infection to themselves—keeping the unit that’s supposed to serve as the Air Force’s cybersecurity specialists in the dark. The network defenders at the 24th Air Force learned of the virus by reading about it in Danger Room.

The virus, which records the keystrokes of remote pilots as their drones fly over places like Afghanistan, is now receiving attention at the highest levels; the four-star general who oversees the Air Force’s networks was briefed on the infection this morning. But for weeks, it stayed (you will pardon the expression) below the radar: a local problem that local network administrators were determined to fix on their own.

“It was not highlighted to us,” says a source involved with Air Force network operations. “When your article came out, it was like, ‘What is this?’”

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