Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones • Hacker News Board

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#11

Post by makmanalp » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:14 AM UTC

tsally wrote: post #6

I have a thought. How about next time the military just flies one of these things down to Defcon and lets people have a go. The hackers get a cool toy to play with a for a day and the military gets a free fairly sophisticated penetration test. I'm sure the flaw would have been found; instructions on how to intercept satellite data with about $100 worth of hardware have been floating around for years. I'll edit this p…

Or someone could find a flaw, not tell about it, sell it.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#12

Post by garply » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:15 AM UTC

tsally wrote: post #6

I have a thought. How about next time the military just flies one of these things down to Defcon and lets people have a go. The hackers get a cool toy to play with a for a day and the military gets a free fairly sophisticated penetration test. I'm sure the flaw would have been found; instructions on how to intercept satellite data with about $100 worth of hardware have been floating around for years. I'll edit this p…

I'm interested in the details.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#13

Post by jpwagner » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:22 AM UTC

Devilboy wrote: post #4

'Fixing the security gap would have caused delays' '... it would have added to the Predator's price' If you're paying $20 million each you'd think another million to ensure your targets don't see you coming would be a no-brainer?

While I obviously think they need to close the security gaps, I just want to make a comment on your comment: it's that kind of thinking that keeps our taxes increasing and our economy in shambles.

I'm with @tsally on the solution to this kind of problem...

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#14

Post by tlrobinson » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:35 AM UTC

It's amusing that they consider the lack of encryption a mere "flaw". Seems like a huge oversight to me.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#15

Post by pmorici » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:37 AM UTC

tsally wrote: post #6

I have a thought. How about next time the military just flies one of these things down to Defcon and lets people have a go. The hackers get a cool toy to play with a for a day and the military gets a free fairly sophisticated penetration test. I'm sure the flaw would have been found; instructions on how to intercept satellite data with about $100 worth of hardware have been floating around for years. I'll edit this p…

The article said that people knew the potential existed since the mid 90's so the problem was't ignorance it was arrogance and apathy.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#16

Post by jsm386 » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:42 AM UTC

The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said. But the Pentagon assumed local adversaries wouldn't know how to exploit it, the officials said.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#17

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:42 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#18

Post by naveensundar » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:44 AM UTC

The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control.

What about the uplink?

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#19

Post by jac_no_k » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:45 AM UTC

Anybody remember the movie Body of Lies? Would be interesting to feed the insurgents a different video feed from what is actually be used.

Re: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

#20

Post by ars » Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 6:51 AM UTC

I hope instead of shutting it down, the military feeds them false information. If done right, it could make a good trap.