Researchers Prove Drones Can Be Hacked. A team of researchers at the University of Texas at Austin received $1,000 from the Department of Homeland Security after hacking into an airborne drone and wresting control from the pilot.
The researchers, headed by Dr. Todd E. Humphreys, got control of the drone by overloading it with false signals that were precisely matched up with authentic satellite signals — a technique known as "spoofing. " Speculation continues over Hezbollah’s ability to disable Israeli drones. BEIRUT: The recent mysterious disappearance of a suspected Israeli pilotless reconnaissance plane from the radar screen of the French UNIFIL battalion in south Lebanon has raised speculation that Hezbollah has found a way of electronically jamming and disabling drones.
Information has been circulating for over a year that Hezbollah has been exploring – and may have discovered – a means of jamming the data link between a drone and its ground control base or interfering with the guidance system of drones on pre-programed flight missions in order to crash them. There is no confirmation yet that Hezbollah has acquired the ability to jam and destroy Israeli reconnaissance drones, but there is no question that its highly secret electronic warfare and communications capabilities have advanced tremendously over the past decade and will play a critical role in any future war with Israel.
The Virus Infecting the U.S. Drone Fleet Came from Mafia Wars. Computer virus hits US Predator and Reaper drone fleet. 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 war zones.
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.
WeaponsDalek: We have INFECTED all the U... Get Hacked, Don’t Tell: Drone Base Didn’t Report Virus. 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 — leaving 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. The drones are still flying over warzones from Afghanistan to Pakistan to Yemen. SkyGrabber: the $26 software used by insurgents to hack into US drones. "SkyGrabber is offline satellite internet downloader," the page begins confidently, at once informing the native English speaker that the page wasn't written by one.
In fact SkyGrabber is a Russian programme – the site is apparently run by Cherkashyn Vyacheslav in Nab Podeba, Ukraine. SkyGrabber is a simple enough concept: grab the signals that spill from a satellite broadcast (or even narrowcast), aimed from a satellite towards a specific location, and turn them into TV feeds you can look at. Or as the website puts it: "You don't have to keep an online internet connection. Just customise your satellite dish to selected satellite provider and start grabbing. " Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones. Drones Hacked with $26 Software. Iraqi insurgents hacked Predator drone feeds, U.S. official indicates. U.S. official: Insurgents used mass-market software program to view live drone feedsSoftware, from Russian company, is downloadable off the InternetNo troops or combat missions were compromised, official tells CNNVulnerability could date back to the 1990s, military technology analyst says Washington (CNN) -- Insurgents were able to use a mass-market software program to view live feeds from U.S. military Predator drones monitoring targets in Iraq, a U.S. official indicated to CNN Thursday.
The breach by Iranian-backed Shiite militants was discovered late last year, according to U.S. military and defense officials. The story was first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. The U.S. official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the information, said no U.S. troops or combat missions had been compromised because of the intrusion. The inexpensive software, created by a Russian company called SkyGrabber, is downloadable off the Internet. Lt. Is the best software for accepting free to air satellite data digital satellite TV tuner card (DVB-S/DVB-S2) SkyGrabber allows to accept satellite internet data, assemble it in files (avi,mp3,mp4,etc.) and save files onto your hard disk.
The program has user-friendly interface, diverse filter system and satellite provider manager inside. SkyGrabber works only with free-to-air satellite internet data. The program curently supports 8 the most popular dvb-s/dvb-s2 tv tuner models (more details, see Supported Devices). Required equipment to start SkyGrabber: Satellite dishKU-Band/C-Band LNBDVB-S/DVB-S2 TV tuner (for example, DVB-S2 HD TV tuner USB)PC or laptop Assemble TCP/IP sessions in filesLock frequency to accept satellite internet dataSupport DiceqC (uncommited/commited)Satellite provider managerFilter manager by file typeFilter manager by IP addresses (MAC addresses)Monitoring system resource information (CPU usage, Memory usage, Free disk space)Monitoring satellite signal information (Level, Quality)Displaying progress bar of downloaded files. US drones intercepted by $26 software.