REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Drone Wars: Patriots hack Predator Reaper robots

POSTED BY: PIRATENEWS
UPDATED: Monday, December 21, 2009 14:03
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 5760
PAGE 1 of 1

Thursday, December 17, 2009 9:52 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!



Grim Reaper with Gorgon Stare

Quote:

Wall Street Journal (owned by Deng Wen Di in Commie China)

video: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html

WASHINGTON -- Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems.

Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
www.skygrabber.com

Quote:

SkyGrabber is branded as software that intercepts satellite data, such as movies, music and pictures, and saves the stolen data on user's hard disk. The best part about SkyGrabber is that it does not require an Internet connection, which comes in handy when you are hiding in the caves or roaming the Iraqi desert.

www.nowpublic.com/world/skygrabber-review-powerful-software-wrong-hand
s-2540126.html



U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America's enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.

The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious vulnerability in Washington's growing network of unmanned drones, which have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Obama administration has come to rely heavily on the unmanned drones because they allow the U.S. to safely monitor and stalk insurgent targets in areas where sending American troops would be either politically untenable or too risky.

The stolen video feeds also indicate that U.S. adversaries continue to find simple ways of counteracting sophisticated American military technologies.

U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they apprehended a Shiite militant whose laptop contained files of intercepted drone video feeds. In July, the U.S. military found pirated drone video feeds on other militant laptops, leading some officials to conclude that militant groups trained and funded by Iran were regularly intercepting feeds.

n the summer 2009 incident, the military found "days and days and hours and hours of proof" that the feeds were being intercepted and shared with multiple extremist groups, the person said. "It is part of their kit now."

A senior defense official said that James Clapper, the Pentagon's intelligence chief, assessed the Iraq intercepts at the direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and concluded they represented a shortcoming to the security of the drone network.

"There did appear to be a vulnerability," the defense official said. "There's been no harm done to troops or missions compromised as a result of it, but there's an issue that we can take care of and we're doing so."

Senior military and intelligence officials said the U.S. was working to encrypt all of its drone video feeds from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but said it wasn't yet clear if the problem had been completely resolved.

Some of the most detailed evidence of intercepted feeds has been discovered in Iraq, but adversaries have also intercepted drone video feeds in Afghanistan, according to people briefed on the matter. These intercept techniques could be employed in other locations where the U.S. is using pilotless planes, such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, they said.

The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said.

The militants use programs such as SkyGrabber, from Russian company SkySoftware.

Andrew Solonikov, one of the software's developers, said he was unaware that his software could be used to intercept drone feeds. "It was developed to intercept music, photos, video, programs and other content that other users download from the Internet -- no military data or other commercial data, only free legal content," he said by email from Russia.

The Air Force has staked its future on unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones account for 36% of the planes in the service's proposed 2010 budget.

Today, the Air Force is buying hundreds of Reaper drones, a newer model, whose video feeds could be intercepted in much the same way as with the Predators, according to people familiar with the matter. A Reaper costs between $10 million and $12 million each and is faster and better armed than the Predator. General Atomics expects the Air Force to buy as many as 375 Reapers.



Who's the secret agent on FFF who predicted this?

Coincidence that AlCIAduh is the CIA database of CIA employees, that THAT'S how the "insurgents" knew how to hack the Drone War? CIA and Pentagon's "Airlift of Evil" has been rescuing AllCIAduh and Taliban since the first battle of the Afghan War, and provided the "enemy" over 200,000 guns since the war started.

Large numbers of robot drones have crashed. CIA hacking and crashing drones to force new purchase orders to replace them? Bell Helicopters won orders for 5,000 choppers shot down by bows and arrows in Vietnam.

RAF first as Taliban leader is killed by plane ... piloted remotely in Las Vegas
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024797/RAF-Taliban-leader-killed-pla
ne---piloted-remotely-Las-Vegas.html




FOX TV: The Lone Gunmen -- Pilot Episode (Operation Northwoods)
CIA hacks airliner by remote control to crash into World Trade Center 6 months before 9/11/2001, to blame Afghanistan (X-Files Lone Gunmen hack it back)
http://killtown.911review.org/lonegunmen.html
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS346US346&um=
1&q=lone%20gunmen&ndsp=20&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv&tbo=0
#

Pentagon's Operation Northwoods, signed confession to CIA hijacking and bombing fake CIA airliners by remote control to blame innocent nations, declassified 12 months before 9/11.
www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS346US346&q=operation+north
woods&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g10


Killer Robot Jetplanes Attacked USA on 9/11
http://piratenews.org/killer-robot-jetplanes.html

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:01 AM

BYTEMITE


We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:03 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."



But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.

Free trial: Predator Drone SkyHack 2.0
www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Download-Managers/SkyGrabber.shtml

Obama's Cyber Czar Melissa Hathaway Fired, er, "Resigns"
http://online.wsj.com/video/obama-cyber-czar-resigns/0CA4BABE-90F7-4A1
B-8B02-E0FA4830F003.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hathaway

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:12 AM

BYTEMITE


Quote:

But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.


Still true, though. The proxy war we funded against the Russians in Afghanistan is what established the resistance against us now, although even if that weren't the case, the way we've done Afghanistan has been one big screw-up IMO. And now it sounds like Iraq is starting to go to pot. They've been disasters since Korea, and considering what North Korea is NOW, I'm not sure we did such a good job then, either.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:19 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:

Quote:

But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.


Still true, though. The proxy war we funded against the Russians in Afghanistan is what established the resistance against us now, although even if that weren't the case, the way we've done Afghanistan has been one big screw-up IMO. And now it sounds like Iraq is starting to go to pot. They've been disasters since Korea, and considering what North Korea is NOW, I'm not sure we did such a good job then, either.



Not a good time to be a soldier. $50,000 enlistment bonuses notwithstanding.

Ask too many questions and you get triple-tapped in the head at point blank range, like Tillman. An entire platoon was suicided after complaining about their massacre in Fallujah.

This current hack is clearly under the control of CIA to protect its "insurgents", and to blame Iran. Cheney wanted US Navy SEALS to dress up as Iranians and attack the US Navy.

I tell soldiers the Civil War is in USA, and the US Govt funds the enemy, because it is the enemy. Just say NO to military slavery and join the cyberwar in USA.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:52 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Quote:

WASHINGTON -- Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

*laughs*

Saw that comin, I TOLD you our comm and signal security sucks, even pointed out this was gonna happen - damned fortunate they didn't take em over yet, but that's coming too.

Technology is ALWAYS a double edged sword, taking with one hand what it giveth with the other.

-F

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 1:56 PM

CITIZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Quote:

WASHINGTON -- Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

*laughs*

Saw that comin, I TOLD you our comm and signal security sucks, even pointed out this was gonna happen - damned fortunate they didn't take em over yet, but that's coming too.


Especially since encrypting the signal so it can't be decoded would be trivial.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 2:10 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."




INCONTHEIVABLE!

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 2:16 PM

BYTEMITE


As true then as is true now. Shame about the iocane powder, though.

(Why do you keep saying that word? I do notta think it means what you think it means.)

But probably the best example of this trope is the game Risk. You just can NOT hold on to the land in Asia, and trying to control the whole continent? Good luck.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, December 17, 2009 4:30 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Quote:

But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.


Still true, though. The proxy war we funded against the Russians in Afghanistan is what established the resistance against us now, although even if that weren't the case, the way we've done Afghanistan has been one big screw-up IMO. And now it sounds like Iraq is starting to go to pot. They've been disasters since Korea, and considering what North Korea is NOW, I'm not sure we did such a good job then, either.



We seem to have built a pretty decently budding capitalist economy in Vietnam. [/sarcasm]

(The irony there is that Vietnam only began to recover in any way once we lost the war, bugged out, let the communists take over, and THEN the people started to figure things out for themselves. While they might eventually come around to our way of thinking, it will only happen BECAUSE we left there and left them the hell alone.)

Hell, as massive as the Soviet Union was (ask Negativland! "Do you know how many time zones there are in the Soviet Union?"), they never controlled Asia. The Chinese can't pull it off, either, and they have our full economic backing! Heck, they can barely control Tibet. ("Free Tibet. While Supplies Last.™"). And as far as I know, nobody's ever really controlled Afghanistan for any amount of time. There's not a "nation" there TO control - just a whole lot of loosely affiliated tribal areas, and if you control one of those, you've probably already pissed off a warlord in another area nearby.

Listening to a reporter talk about the drone attacks, I was struck by his assessment of our priorities in the area. As he put it, if you have one suspect and 34 innocents in a building in Pakistan, 35 people are going to die that day. That's our new "smart" weapon at work. :( CIA better damned well HOPE the "enemy" over there doesn't figure out how to hack the guidance or weapons systems, or there's going to be a whole bunch of dead Americans over there.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 18, 2009 9:05 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Byte: thank you for my first smile of the morning. Your quote.

But, maybe "I don't think that means what you think it means"... ;o)




NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 18, 2009 9:36 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."


I thought it was, " Never go up against a Sicilian with life and death on the line..." Which is #1 and which #2?

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 18, 2009 2:35 PM

DREAMTROVE


Damn, NOB, you beat me to the response. I was going ot credit it to Scalia.

Meanwhile, what part of this isn't awesome, other then the part where we all die?

Oh, I'd like to go on record as having predicted this the moment the story broke, but on this forum, that probably puts me in a majority.

As for encryption, obviously someone got their hands on one of our remote control units, err, I mean, decoder rings.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, December 18, 2009 7:14 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!


Unmanned aerial "Predator" drones patrol US/Mexico border
www.boingboing.net/2009/12/07/unmanned-aerial-pred.html

Robot Speed Cameras Catch Motorists from the Skies
www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2994.asp


NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:03 AM

CITIZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:
As for encryption, obviously someone got their hands on one of our remote control units, err, I mean, decoder rings.


Firstly, what idiot let them? Secondly, what idiot didn't change the codes?

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, December 19, 2009 3:54 AM

DREAMTROVE


Citizen,

You're still assuming that we're in this to win...

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, December 19, 2009 11:25 AM

OUT2THEBLACK


Quote:

Originally posted by piratenews:

Robot Speed Cameras Catch Motorists from the Skies
www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2994.asp






From your link above :

'...Both Spain and the UK have experimented with the use of Eurocopter EC135 surveillance helicopters for issuing speeding tickets.'

US Army has ordered the Eurocopter EC-145 (LUH-72a 'Lakota') for US 'Domestic' enforcement activities , in violation of Posse Comitatus Act :



Not all 322 of these birds will be devoted to SAR and MedEvacs




NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, December 20, 2009 11:40 AM

FREMDFIRMA



Uh huh, like they weren't already using Hughes 500MD QASD (Active Noise Suppression) models for this already, although some places still use those damn Bell OH-58 Kiowas, especially out west, in black, naturally.

Hell, those little MD500's are the *reason* for "little black helicopter" jokes - which, much like jokes about Catholic altar boys, have some pretty damn solid basis in fact, just no one wants to admit it, is all.

There's also the blimps, of course, which are unlike ours, which has it's control and telemetry signals passed via shielded cable to a van - operate wirelessly on piss poor unencrypted common channels - be damn ironic if some domestic creeper used that to crash one into a surburban neighborhood, wouldn't it now ?

As usual, the greatest danger to us is from our so-called protectors...

Anyhows, I figure this new one goes the way of the Bell ARH-70, sink a shitload of money into it as a replacement for the MD500's and Kiowas, and drag it out with slowdowns and cost overruns till everyone has full pockets and then shitcan it as non viable - which is about how that goes.

Most people watchin is gonna go to UAVs, which are fairly vulnerable to all manner of trickery cause the more complicated you make something the easier it is to screw up, especially when you have it operated by mouth breathin, knuckle draggin, lowbrow morons of the type mostly employed by Dept HomeSec.

As a certain kind Catholic lady is fond of telling me "It is only by the grace of a loving God that all your opponents are dumber than you."

I disagree, but appreciate the sentiment.

-F

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 21, 2009 7:54 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!



Pentagon donates Snowgoose UAV to AllCIAduh, $20,000 lost per kamikaze robot

Special Ops robots now do psychological warfare

US arms globocorp Boeing has announced yet another military robot demonstration - but this time, one with a difference. Rather than spying on meatsacks or mowing them down with the traditional array of automated weaponry, the war-bots in this trial sought to win over their fleshy opponents using psychological warfare.

The demo was carried out for the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), the organisation which runs the noted Green Berets, Rangers etc.

"Working with USASOC, we were able to pull together a team to demonstrate this integrated, multimodal operation in just 45 days," says Boeing bigwig Vic Sweberg. "We brought together hardware and software from five different contractors into a single system that allowed the control of different unmanned systems capabilities to accomplish a particular mission."

Apart from its legions of hardy throatcutters, USASOC is also in charge of the US Army's active psychological-warfare troops.

It seems that a small robot helicopter and an unmanned R-Gator jeep/buggy affair from John Deere were selected to deliver a blistering onslaught of pro-US propaganda. Boeing says the two machine warriors carried out an "electro-optical/infrared, audio, and leaflet drop mission".

Translated, that means that infrared nightsight video of the target area was taken, propaganda announcements were played through speakers (probably on the R-Gator) and leaflets were dropped (probably from the copter).

Actually, robots of a sort have already carried out leaflet drops in Afghanistan - SnowGoose robo-paramotor rigs, to be specific. So there's nothing terribly new going on here.

Even so, it does seem odd that robots - having learned how to slaughter human beings using deadly force - have now moved on to the more tricky task of persuading people to comply with orders or give up simply by spreading information.

Come the machine uprising, this sort of capability will no doubt be very useful in recruiting and managing fleshy slaves.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/18/military_robot_psyops/



NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 21, 2009 10:27 AM

OUT2THEBLACK


Quote:

Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Uh huh, like they weren't already using Hughes 500MD QASD (Active Noise Suppression) models for this already, although some places still use those damn Bell OH-58 Kiowas, especially out west, in black, naturally.

Hell, those little MD500's are the *reason* for "little black helicopter" jokes - which, much like jokes about Catholic altar boys, have some pretty damn solid basis in fact, just no one wants to admit it, is all.

...As usual, the greatest danger to us is from our so-called protectors...

Anyhows, I figure this new one goes the way of the Bell ARH-70, sink a shitload of money into it as a replacement for the MD500's and Kiowas, and drag it out with slowdowns and cost overruns till everyone has full pockets and then shitcan it as non viable - which is about how that goes....

-F



All true , of course...

One wonders at the 'logic' of a generation of new Euro-Helos in which the rotor turns *backward* compared to the rest of the Army inventory...Kinda gives away the game plan from the outset , don'tcha think ?

As for the Hughes OH-6/500/530 'Little Birds' , they've always been stealthier and quieter , not to mention faster , than their counterparts , because they were designed that way from the outset...Subsequent improvements , especially NOTAR tech , have only rendered them even more so...

On the subject of Loaches with NOTAR , I first saw an experimental version of it fly during the late 60's...I know a USAF strikefighter pilot who flew COIN-bird missions in the 'Nam , and he insists that the Loach was never used in that theater of warfare...Documentary evidence says otherwise...

Remember the little sniper-drone helo with the Lapua Magnum .338 ? I first saw that helo platform flying in 1993...

Gives an idea of the lead-time on these kinds of projects...

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Monday, December 21, 2009 2:03 PM

FREMDFIRMA



Yep, and then they go and put em on wireless on unencrypted channels, when simply throwing a goddamn SWITCH on the baseplate woulda set it for em.


More proof that whenever you make something idiot proof, our so-called protectors come up with better idiots.

-F

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Salon: NBC's Ronna blunder: A failed attempt to appeal to MAGA voters — except they hate her too
Thu, March 28, 2024 07:04 - 1 posts
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Thu, March 28, 2024 05:27 - 6154 posts
In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
Thu, March 28, 2024 02:07 - 3408 posts
Russian losses in Ukraine
Wed, March 27, 2024 23:21 - 987 posts
Elections; 2024
Wed, March 27, 2024 22:19 - 2069 posts
human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
Wed, March 27, 2024 15:03 - 824 posts
NBC News: Behind the scenes, Biden has grown angry and anxious about re-election effort
Wed, March 27, 2024 14:58 - 2 posts
BUILD BACK BETTER!
Wed, March 27, 2024 14:45 - 5 posts
RFK Jr. Destroys His Candidacy With VP Pick?
Wed, March 27, 2024 11:59 - 16 posts
Russia says 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility
Wed, March 27, 2024 10:57 - 49 posts
Ha. Haha! HAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!
Tue, March 26, 2024 21:26 - 1 posts
You can't take the sky from me, a tribute to Firefly
Tue, March 26, 2024 16:26 - 293 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL