# Computer Virus Infects U.S Drones



## Kreij (Oct 7, 2011)

> A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.
> 
> The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.
> 
> “We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. “We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”



It was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose.

Read more at WIRED


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## techtard (Oct 7, 2011)

Fucking Windows 98!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKgFTGxkjcA


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## CyberDruid (Oct 7, 2011)

SkyNet here we come.


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## RevengE (Oct 7, 2011)

techtard said:


> fucking windows 98!
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkgftgxkjca



get bill gates in here!


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## brandonwh64 (Oct 7, 2011)




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## Jegergrim (Oct 7, 2011)

One would assume they would have specialists to do the job thoroughly the first time


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## ShiBDiB (Oct 7, 2011)

Jegergrim said:


> One would assume they would have specialists to do the job thoroughly the first time



The military has a whole Cyber Warefare Command, but this just sounds like a credit card number stealing key logger that managed to get onto a system not designed to combat such benign threats.

Probably someone who stuck an infected USB drive into a computer.


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## Fourstaff (Oct 7, 2011)

So when do we get to fly our own hacked Drones?


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 7, 2011)

No one "flies" Predators--they fly themselves.  All they're given is directives (go here, watch there, fire missile at that, etc.).

Sounds to me like they need to put drone consoles on secure networks.


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## Inceptor (Oct 7, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> So when do we get to fly our own hacked Drones?



For about half an hour before a Tactical team pwns you


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## Steevo (Oct 7, 2011)

Perhaps it is just a backdoor left open by a software design team so they could see what the pilots were doing durig testing. Many times the original design tem gets pulled off top secret projects when they have a beta that is ready to go public, and another team finishes the last bit. Why let one team know everything about project X, when you can reduce your liabililty by splitting and compartmentalizing your work.


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## Jetster (Oct 7, 2011)

Maybe they shouldn't use the lowest bidder


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## Kreij (Oct 7, 2011)

Fourstaff : Look guys, I hacked into a drone cockpit and can control a drone !!
Seal Team 6 : Knock, knock. BLAM BLAM BLAM
Fourstaff : *plop*

<--- Avatar Seal gonna get you, 4Staff. 




			
				Ford said:
			
		

> Sounds to me like they need to put drone consoles on secure networks.


Take an infected cockpit console completely offline.
Wipe it, reload it.
If it comes back before it's back online, it been built into the hardware (chips).
Who's making the hardware our military uses? China?
That's not such a far-fetched scenario.


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## Fourstaff (Oct 7, 2011)

Kreij said:


> Fourstaff : Look guys, I hacked into a drone cockpit and can control a drone !!
> Seal Team 6 : Knock, knock. BLAM BLAM BLAM
> Fourstaff : *plop*
> 
> <--- Avatar Seal gonna get you, 4Staff.



Not going to announce it to hit squad leader


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## Kreij (Oct 7, 2011)

*Update* : A member of the U.S Cyber Security Team who asked not to be identified is quoted as saying, "Due to budget cuts we had to go with the free version of Microsoft Security Essentials. It turns out it wasn't a keylogger, it was a false positive caused by using Google Chrome."

Sorry couldn't resist. lol


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## D4S4 (Oct 8, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> So when do we get to fly our own hacked Drones?



f*ck hawx, imma be hacking me a predator!!!1!


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## Kreij (Oct 8, 2011)

Speaking of security ... If you are a US citizen and are interested in a Undergraduate or Graduate degree in IT security, the government will foot the whole bill and give you a stipend of $8K to $12K a year (which I heard is going to be raised to $10K and $15K respectively) while your are going to school.

Dont' believe me? Here you go

There are a few requirements like having to work for the gov afterward for the same number of years you got free schooling, and possibly passing a security clearance check in the event you get a job somewhere super-secret, but just think of the cool shit you could learn.


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## Drone (Oct 8, 2011)

> “We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,”


turn off system restore then lol


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## Kreij (Oct 8, 2011)

Well take a look at today's news from Japan ....


> Passwords for servers at defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) may have been stolen during a wide-ranging cyber-attack.
> 
> The Kobe Shipyard and Machinery Works, which builds submarines, and the Nagoya Guidance and Propulsion Systems Works, which makes missile-related products, were among installations compromised in the attack, which was reported to the Metropolitan Police Department on Sept. 30.
> 
> ...



Interesting.
I'm sure this happens a lot more often than is being reported.


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## BigRob (Oct 8, 2011)

Inceptor said:


> For about half an hour before a Tactical team pwns you



 I just died laughing.


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## micropage7 (Oct 9, 2011)

and it shows that our next war not only about bullets and missiles


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## Inceptor (Oct 9, 2011)

Kreij said:


> I'm sure this happens a lot more often than is being reported.



All over the world, all the time, and not just by China.  The Cold war may have 'ended', but someone didn't tell the espionage agencies...


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## m4gicfour (Oct 9, 2011)

micropage7 said:


> and it shows that our next war not only about bullets and missiles



At this point, "War" as it is conventionally known, is obsolete. Policing actions, peacekeeping, special operations, counter-insurgancies are the norm now. If we ever have a real, old-fasioned war between a superpower like America and anywhere that stands a chance of lasting more than a week against that kind of force... Welcome to Fallout 3.


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## techtard (Oct 9, 2011)

The next war is already happening. It's the corporations vs the average/middle-class.
And we're losing because people are too stupid to think for themselves, and too lazy to do anything about it.
But hey, we have sports, reality TV, and video games.


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## Delta6326 (Oct 9, 2011)

My Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is ready


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## NAVI_Z (Oct 9, 2011)

techtard said:


> The next war is already happening. It's the corporations vs the average/middle-class.
> And we're losing because people are too stupid to think for themselves, and too lazy to do anything about it.
> But hey, we have sports, reality TV, and video games.
> 
> so true......+1.....


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