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NEWS > TECHNOLOGY > TERRORISTS GAIN ACCESS TO DRONE FLEET CREDIT CARD INFO
TERRORISTS GAIN ACCESS TO DRONE FLEET CREDIT CARD INFO
October 9 2011
Washington, D.C. – War will always, likely, involve boots on the ground. From the earliest days of warfare to the modern soldiers have made up the backbone of any conflict and that does not seem likely to change anytime soon. No matter how advanced the technology becomes, wars are still won and lost on the ground with men and women in the mix.
However, technology has changed and one of those advances, the drone system, has done remarkable things for conflict, particularly in tracking down specific individuals. Now though, a little more than a week after a drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, the depth of a massive virus infection in the drone fleet has started to leak out. The virus, believed to be a keylogger designed to copy keyboard strikes, has apparently infected the entire fleet rendering the safety of the nation and the bank accounts of numerous drones at risk of exploitation just when they are needed most.
“We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back. We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know,” an insider told Wired.
The virus has not prevented operators from carrying out their missions, but has prompted a new protocol that restricts said operators from using the drones for any purpose other than killing enemy targets, meaning no Facebook and no adult sites.
There are at least 180 drones in the U.S. fleet and are believed to have been infected by the virus.
“This is really a serious breach of security. I mean viruses are nothing new to any computer operators but to have one inside the system of a military network, well that’s just a little unsettling. I mean if they were computers used by office workers that’s forgivable but these are weapons systems and something else entirely,” said Scrape TV Technology analyst Ken Kevins. “Obviously someone has been doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. There are many ways for these viruses to install themselves on a system but usually it happens in the course of user interactions, opening strange attachments or visiting dangerous sites. Aside from the national security risk, it is certainly going to be embarrassing if they find out who brought this virus into the network.”
It is believed to be highly unlikely that the virus would be able to wrest control of the drones away from the operators and turn them on friendly targets, but credit card numbers and other personal information is believed to be at risk.
“The drone software is not great and has been accessed over and over again but this is first time we have seen this type of thing at the headquarters which suggests that the spammers are getting really good or that the military IT is getting really sloppy. Either way, it’s a problem,” continued Kevins. “If this virus remains persistent they will have to take much more aggressive action against it and that is going to mean a lot of downtime and lot of terrorists getting away with things. That, however, is preferable to the enemy gaining control of the drones or the personal information of the operators. Hopefully this prompts them to reassess their policies on internet usage.”
The drone program had been using a free firewall system which did have some parental restrictions, but obviously not enough.
Martin Philton, Technology Correspondent
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