DARPA Funding a $50 Drone-Droppable Spy Computer

Sparrowvsrevolution writes "At the Shmoocon security conference, researcher Brendan O'Connor plans to present the F-BOMB, or Falling or Ballistically-launched Object that Makes Backdoors. Built from just the disassembled hardware in a commercially-available PogoPlug mini-computer, a few tiny antennae, eight gigabytes of flash memory and some 3D-printed plastic casing, the F-BOMB serves as 3.5"-by-4"-by-1" spy computer. With a contract from DARPA, O'Connor has designed the cheap gadgets to be spy nodes, ready to be dropped from a drone, plugged inconspicuously into a wall socket, (one model impersonates a carbon monoxide detector) thrown over a barrier, or otherwise put into irretrievable positions to quietly collect data and send it back to the owner over any available Wi-Fi network. O'Connor built his prototypes with gear that added up to just $46 each, so sacrificing one for a single use is affordable."

Comments

Re:Report over WiFi???

[Esteanil]

Sure, just like it's normal to take things that drop out of the sky and plug them into the wall.

Yup, that's normal.

According to a test run by Homeland Security:

Computer disks and USB sticks were dropped in parking lots of government buildings and private contractors, and 60% of the people who picked them up plugged the devices into office computers. And if the drive or CD had an official logo on it, 90% were installed.

Borrowed from Bruce Schneier ( http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/06/yet_another_peo.html )

Re:Report over WiFi???

[icebike]

Also Borrowed from the same source:

The problem is that the OS trusts random USB sticks. The problem is that the OS will automatically run a program that can install malware from a USB stick. The problem is that it isn't safe to plug a USB stick into a computer.

To which the proper response is:

The problem is the operating system you've chosen Mr. Schneier.