WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America’s enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.
The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious vulnerability in Washington’s growing network of unmanned drones, which have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Do they drive the Drones with an XBox or a Wii? And Google Earth is live right? Wait until the insurgents discover that they are watching a video game and the USA does an end run and boom! Smile boys, you are on candid camera. Log on to hacker and fire!
Mohammad, in the livingroom watching tv calls to Abdul who’s in the kitchen stacking dishes in the dishwasher. ”Abdul come here quick! That looks like our house on the tv and it’s getting closer and closer and clos”……………
”The main concern was that the video feeds were being intercepted, manipulated and then fed to the commanders in the field,” one of the officers said. “The fear was a commander looking on a feed, seeing nothing, and then having an enemy tank brigade come roaring into your command post.”
So they knew about a clear and present danger to American troops for how long and did nothing about it? Heads should roll.
http://tiny.cc/DYE8W