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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."
Who benefits from government-mandated backdoors?
It is sad that such a brilliant and innovative company was destroyed by a bunch of envious losers.
They were in the business of exploiting. Then someone exploited them.
If I'm ethically consistent I shouldn't smirk at smart people getting out smarted...
grin
Wanting total access to our data IS a terror plot. By the very definition of terrorism. Using fear, violence or threat thereof, blackmail or other threats to change a political system or use the aforementioned methods to keep the current one in effect is basically what terrorism is about.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
never flies... injects malware traditionally via Internet and the ubiquitous pebkac custom of clicking "scan your harddrive for virus" javascript ads and "install flash now" offers.
What they do is illegal anywhere on the planet. How are they not in jail? How can they still travel without getting arrested the minute they step onto foreign soil? We know who they are, where they are, what they do! ARREST THE BASTARDS!
Boeing is a military contractor. When considering providing a service to the military or one of their contractors the first step is to ask "How much?".
"Can we deliver?" comes later.
There are exceptional companies, but Hacking Team is not one of them - a personal opinion based on reading much of the leaked data (without questioning it's authenticity).
"You want the moon? Didn't you see page 27 of our latest brochure [sound of keyboard, then printer] I'll send you another copy in a minute".
[obvious sarcasm] Well, it's absolutely fine by me; after all, they're on our side, right? It's not like it couldn't be used against us, huh? Anyway, I've done nothing wrong, so I've got nothing to fear!! {insert happy emoji} [/obvious sarcasm]
My wifi is near unusable at the extremes of my own house. When I go outside, I can't usefully hitch to it more than a few feet from the house. Any drone that wants to inject something would have fly really close.
From what I can dig up, where I live in the US I own the air over my house up to at least 80 feet from the ground (possibly as much as 500). So I'd be well within my rights to shoot down any drone that could come close enough to hook to my wifi. Unless of course they have a subpenoa, but those have to be served, at which point I already know so the drone is kinda pointless.
I'm wondering how tough it would be to develop anti-drone devices that are smart enough to not kill birds and bats.
In fact, you'd think a better and cheaper idea would be to just send someone with said injection device in their pocket to the person's front door posing as a magazine salesman or Jehova's Witness or something. Or better yet, just mail the injection device to the victim. If its small enough to put in a drone, you can probably find a way to slip it into a piece of cardboard or in the packing material for a package or something.
Wired or GTFO. the only thing I permit on the wifi network is facebooking. I encourage them to do it on the wifi. Do all your personal crap on it. But the company servers, etc... not connected to the wifi. You want to talk to those... plug yourself in with an eithernet cable.
Where the NSA will start creeping me out again is when they get little robots that can scurry between my walls and link into the ethernet using a little rodent sized drone.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
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..
With respect AC that has nothing at all to do with the topic discussed. The size of the listening antenna is the thing that matters and wattage of the transmitter is not under the control of the receiver.
I'm not sure how you manged to get things precisely backwards, but I'll assume it's an innocent mistake and not a joke.