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$26 of Software Defeats American Military
reporter writes "A computer program that can be easily purchased for $25.95 off the Internet can read and store the data transmitted on an unsecured channel by an unmanned drone. Drones are crucial to American military operations, for these aerial vehicles enable Washington to conduct war with a reduced number of soldiers. '... 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 US surveillance.'"
...you observe uav
Don't tell the DoD. They've been paying $7,000 per license for that software.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
We need an OSS option stat. Nobody should have to give up their software freedom just to make a mockery of America's finest tech toys.
The only question is, would this make more sense as an added option in wireshark, or GNU Radio?
Counting the cheapest part of the machine is silly.
Software is often free. $26 is a lot for software. The radio reception, etc. and knowing where to aim are all much more expensive and require skill.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Perhaps the US can put an IP copyright on the data then sue anyone who looks at it without a licesnce! More money!
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
No, demodulating a signal is not news. But not encrypting it in the first place ought to be. (And TFA had a red herring in its focus on the software used to record the signal--the software is probably the easy part, once you've captured the signal).
.sig withheld by request
Turns out the drones use bluetooth. Just the other day my laptop asked me to sync to one when I was put a pringles can on the antenna.
"Windows has found a MQ-9 Reaper, would you like to connect?"
At this point I was (a.) terrified and (b.) glad that somebody with some clout was going to do something about the increased crime in the area.
Let me guess. GA-ASI (maker of the MQ-9 Reaper drone) makes voting machines too.
Reading the information in the article and deducting from the software used, all you need is satellite internet card, satellite dish and the SkyGrabber, a bit of software that records anything video like it finds in satellite data stream. Pretty much off the shelf hardware for a place with limited infrastructure.
why didn't the DoD just start passing a fake feed from the drone? They could have added another encrypted channel for the real feed, which I would assume is trivial given the military's budget. Then pass fake data over the unencrypted channel. Sometimes disinformation to the enemy is far more valuable than real intelligence. I can see a bunch of jihadis sitting around watching a tv screen. "Look at those infidels. They are going to blow up the wrong building! Our secret base is 100 kilometers away! Say, does anyone else hear that noi..." [BOOM]
-Arthur
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
"U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they apprehended a Shiite militant whose laptop contained files of intercepted drone video feeds. In July, the U.S. military found pirated drone video feeds on other militant laptops, leading some officials to conclude that militant groups trained and funded by Iran were regularly intercepting feeds." The Germans did not think the Poles could break their codes. The Japanese did not think the US and the Australians would break their codes. The British did not think Argentina would finish assembling the Exocets on their own without the French manuals or use them in a way differently than designed. The Afghan and Iraqi insurgents have the money and the brains to break into Western weapon systems, don't underestimate them (or the probable help from Iran, Syria, Korea, etc...) The prospect of getting killed is a powerful motivator.
No, demodulating a signal is not news. But not encrypting it in the first place ought to be.
(And TFA had a red herring in its focus on the software used to record the signal--the software is probably the easy part, once you've captured the signal).
We were using SINCGARS in the early 90's. SINCGARS is a frequency hopping, encrypted method of voice communication. We were just starting to use it to network military vehicles and personnel with HQ and each other. If SINCGARS could have been cracked, it would have put a beacon on every vehicle and soldier on and off the battlefield, not to mention eavesdropping. However, the inventor of SINCGARS could not decrypt the signal without the software and hardware keys. The software keys were changed at will. Usually weekly, but could easily be done daily. I am shocked that this signal does not use better encryption and/or frequency hopping. This type of communication is critical to tomorrow's battlefield.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
If they can prevent me from watching porn on cable and satellite, they should be able to prevent these guys from hijacking the video feeds from the UAVs.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Is there any real security risk in this? I suspect it is very small. The Russians never bothered to encrypt the telemetry on their ICBM tests, because after all even assuming someone was reading it, they had no way of stopping the thing. Even if you know where the drone is, it is going to be very hard to shoot down; RPGs and IEDs really aren't much use. And given that this is a video feed, how do you ray trace back to the actual position of the camera?
Unfortunately there are plenty of assholes out there who will exaggerate anything in order to claim that they are more security conscious than the next person (and perhaps hope to get a contract for their company). But this is surely small war, no-one dead, move along please.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
If you squint and have a vivid imagination, they can never stop you.
Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
Sensationalist... i would expect this from a tabloid.
Title should have been: Unencrypted data broadcasted everywhere ... can be received by anyone!
The leap from that to "$26 of Software Defeats American Military" is quite a big leap in my opinion.
Sigs are for the weak.
"Hey I can see my house from here! Oh Wai..."
Simple explanation here.
Back in the early days of this design, someone designated drone-originated video as unclassified. Otherwise there's no way in hell it would be unencrypted.
This isn't an oversight - there's guaranteed a loooong paper trail going back to a conscious decision regarding the classification level of the drone video here, and following conscious decisions regarding the design.
If you use encryption in a military system that is not NSA Type 1 approved, there's a LOT of paperwork required to prove that your encryption is not being used to protect classified information.
Type 1 approved crypto is a royal pain in the ass. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_1_encryption
It often proves significantly easier in terms of cost and paperwork to not encrypt than to prove that your encryption isn't being used to protect classified information. Security guys ask, "If it's unclassified, why are you encrypting it?", with "It's good design practice." resulting in massive beancounter agro.
Not to be harsh about it, but think back to high school and college and ask yourself if you would describe the people who were planning military careers as the "best and brightest" of your class.
Ahh, you are thinking of the one or two guys who were all gung ho but not especially bright and had delusions about being a badass commando. Yeah, my school had some too. See the thing is though that those guys aren't the guys running the military. The guys you are thinking of end up as infantry grunts or something similar and exit the service after a few years. I have a cousin who is one of those guys. Smart but classic ADHD and socially stunted and not someone I'd trust right now to be in charge of anything. But he served two tours in Iraq and now he's in college so I have hope for him.
The guys in the officer corps (commissioned and higher level NCO) are almost invariably bright and hard working and most of them that I've ever met didn't talk much about their interest in the military. I have a classmate who is a major in the US Navy who never gave the slightest hint he was interested in a military career. He was quiet, very smart, and I would have guessed he'd be an engineer but instead he's become a heck of a good officer. I have a number of friends who were graduates of West Point and Annapolis and I've been impressed as hell by each one of them. Smart, incredibly disciplined, and I'd hire any one of them in a heartbeat.
The US military is an incredibly complicated and large organization with huge budgets, difficult goals, and a huge workforce. If you think managing all that is easy and doesn't require tremendous skill, you are delusional. Sure they make mistakes just like any other large organization but their mission is also more complicated than most and if they fail, people die.
Your comment that GA-ASI does not make voting machines has been recorded. Have a nice day!
What they SHOULD do is to substitute porn for the regular video feeds.
They would either stop watching out of their sense of morality or NEVER stop watching.
Win - Win situation.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.