Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones (Air Force, military)

[NHDave]

Nice to see there is still imcompetance in our government.

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones - WSJ.com

[ShadowCaver]

Sad... and frustrating, esp. when reading such as this from that article:

Fixing the security gap would have caused delays, according to current and former military officials. It would have added to the Predator's price. Some officials worried that adding encryption would make it harder to quickly share time-sensitive data within the U.S. military, and with allies.
...
Today, the Air Force is buying hundreds of Reaper drones, a newer model, whose video feeds could be intercepted in much the same way as with the Predators, according to people familiar with the matter. A Reaper costs between $10 million and $12 million each and is faster and better armed than the Predator

10-12 million,,, each,,, and some fixes to this issue can't be included?

[TomSD]

They didn't hack them as the signal was broadcast openly. Besides it is only the video signal which though it does impact operations and is a security risk it isn't exactly a show stopper. Control and telemetry stuff is all encrypted AFAIK which is the stuff that really matters.

I think not including the option to encrypt everything coming off the bird though was silly. Even if bandwidth was an issue and you ended up having to turn it off the option should've been provided.

[harry chickpea]

As long as they are transmitting, maybe they should broadcast some Wiley Coyote cartoons.

"Hey Achmed - have you seen the new blue bird weapon they have that sticks out its tongue and goes 'Meep Meep!'??"