Pentagon: Insurgents intercepted UAV videos

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An MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land at Balad Air Base, Iraq.


Pentagon: Insurgents intercepted UAV videos
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 17, 2009 17:07:35 EST

WASHINGTON — Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from Predator drones, a major weapon in a Pentagon spy system that serves as the military’s eyes in the sky for surveillance and intelligence collection.

Although militants could see the video, there is no evidence they were able to jam the electronic signals from the unmanned aerial craft or take control of the vehicles, a senior defense official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

Obtaining the video feeds can provide insurgents with critical information about what the military may be targeting, including buildings, roads and other facilities.

Shiite fighters in Iraq used off-the-shelf software programs such as SkyGrabber, available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet, to capture drone video feeds regularly, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The hacking was possible because the remotely flown planes had unprotected communications links.

The Defense Department has dealt with the problem, first discovered a year ago, and is working to encrypt all its drone video feeds from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, defense officials said. One defense official noted that upgrading the encryption in the drones is a lengthy process because at least 600 unmanned vehicles are in use along with thousands of ground stations.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_uav_insurgents_hacked_121709/