Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
arstechnica.com
Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
1–10 of 197 posts
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#2Less people are now being remotely killed. That can't be a bad thing.
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#3Does anybody know what operating system the infected machines run? If it's a Unix variant, ouch--I guess they have some really bad luck. But if this is just an everyday virus, as opposed to cyber warfare targeting the drones specifically, I can't help but think they might be running Windows. Air gap or not, that seems risky to me.
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#4Oh please tell me they aren't running windows.
Just wait until the cops start using these in the USA for "crowd control" ugh.
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#5Oh please tell me they aren't running windows. Just wait until the cops start using these in the USA for "crowd control" ugh.
probably are... mission control at spacex has many windows terminals.
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#6It seems to me that a more interesting question than "how did the malware get there?" is "why are they telling us that they found it?"
Presumably the default thing to do under these circumstances would be to shut up about it, so the fact that they're broadcasting it to the whole world must mean something. In any case I wouldn't take any of the details at face value -- e.g. do they really not have any idea where it came from, or are they feigning ignorance in the hopes of lulling their opponent into a false sense of security?
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#7It seems to me that a more interesting question than "how did the malware get there?" is "why are they telling us that they found it?" Presumably the default thing to do under these circumstances would be to shut up about it, so the fact that they're broadcasting it to the whole world must mean something. In any case I wouldn't take any of the details at face value -- e.g. do they really not have any idea where it ca…
Maybe they anticipated a leak and wanted to get out in front of the story.
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#8This is going to be fun when somebody figures out how shoot somebody with a virus based predator.
Next time think twice before antagonizing your local geek :)
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#9Does anybody know what operating system the infected machines run? If it's a Unix variant, ouch--I guess they have some really bad luck. But if this is just an everyday virus, as opposed to cyber warfare targeting the drones specifically, I can't help but think they might be running Windows. Air gap or not, that seems risky to me.
[deleted]
Re: Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet
#10Does anybody know what operating system the infected machines run? If it's a Unix variant, ouch--I guess they have some really bad luck. But if this is just an everyday virus, as opposed to cyber warfare targeting the drones specifically, I can't help but think they might be running Windows. Air gap or not, that seems risky to me.
That's funny.
It's Windows. Very little Unix anywhere in the DoD over the past few years on new systems; it's mainly legacy, or embedded in products they purchase. There are definitely some Unix server deployments within DoD even now, but they're few and far between.
Blue Screen of Death and all.