Insurgents Intercepted Video Feed From Aircraft

Insurgents using an inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software package have reportedly intercepted video feeds from U.S. military drones, potentially giving them information about military operations. The hack could allow the bad guys to evade coalition forces.

"The Wall Street Journal" reports that the program, called "Skygrabber", allowed insurgents, possibly with Iranian backing, to intercept the video from Predator UAVs being sent via an unencrypted link in remote areas of Iraq. An unnamed source with knowledge of the matter said the insurgents were not able to take control of the aircraft, or disrupt their flight, but that the hack could remove the element of surprise from some missions, and give insurgents information about which areas and roadways are being watched.

The problem was actually discovered in late 2008, when U.S. military forces captured a Shiite militant who had literally days worth of captured UAS video on his laptop computer. The discovery of additional video in July led U.S. officials to belive the militants were being funded by Iran.

The Pentagon has known about the potential vulnerability of the unencrypted links between UAVs and ground stations since the Bosnian campaign in the 1990's, but assumed that militants were unable to capture the information. One of the Russian designers of the software told the paper he created it to capture free music and video content online, and did not intend for it to have a military purpose.

Military officials say no U.S. service personnel have been injured or killed due to this security breech. Meanwhile, the Pentagon reportedly working towards encrypting all of its video feeds from Unmanned Aerial Systems, but it is not known whether the security hole has been closed.

FMI: www.dod.gov