Hacking Team and Boeing Subsidiary Envisioned Drones Deploying Spyware

Advocatus Diaboli writes: Email conversations posted on WikiLeaks reveal that Boeing and Hacking Team want drones to carry devices that inject spyware into target computers through WiFi networks. The Intercept reports: "The plan is described in internal emails from the Italian company Hacking Team, which makes off-the-shelf software that can remotely infect a suspect's computer or smartphone, accessing files and recording calls, chats, emails and more. A hacker attacked the Milan-based firm earlier this month and released hundreds of gigabytes of company information online. Among the emails is a recap of a meeting in June of this year, which gives a "roadmap" of projects that Hacking Team's engineers have underway. On the list: Develop a way to infect computers via drone. One engineer is assigned the task of developing a "mini" infection device, which could be "ruggedized" and "transportable by drone (!)" the write-up notes enthusiastically in Italian. The request appears to have originated with a query from the Washington-based Insitu, which makes a range of unmanned systems, including the small ScanEagle surveillance drone, which has long been used by the militaries of the U.S. and other countries. Insitu also markets its drones for law enforcement."

Comments

Spyware for Spyware

[geekmux]

Is it just me, or did anyone else get a chuckle over the irony that spyware is being considered to deploy spyware.

Unfortunately regardless of stated end-use, damn near every drone deployed in the future will be gathering intel of some kind that offers far more benefit to the organization deploying it than the target. It's merely the world we live in, and people gladly give up that privacy in exchange for convenience or "security".

It will be interesting walking down to the corner of Liability Ave and Lawsuit St where all the action will be when more and more data mines are created while security around those data mines takes a backseat with predictable results. You thought your credit card number getting hacked was inconvenient..