Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - Iran shoots down US drone

BOfH · 12-15-2011, 13:33

There have been instances of drones crashing due to deliberate and accidental RF interference[1]. Additionally, the video link on some is not encrypted and can be intercepted, as has occurred in Iraq[2]. Drones after all are robots, which contain one or multiple embedded computers, which run software, which has a high probability of containing security vulnerabilities. With that in mind, and the fact that many components and some software are COTS products, finding and exploiting a vulnerability may not require as much research and analysis as previously thought. We have been operating drones over Iran for some time, so they have had time to analyze the command and control traffic and poke at the actual software running the craft.

That said, I more or less believe that Iran went with the simpler yet effective RF jamming technique, hence the appearance of malfunction to the US drone operator(s).

[1]https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/17946-Drone-Wars--When-Cyber-Warfare-Becomes-Real.html
[2]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html

12-15-2011, 13:33	#6
BOfH Guerrilla Chief Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NYC Area Posts: 828	There have been instances of drones crashing due to deliberate and accidental RF interference[1]. Additionally, the video link on some is not encrypted and can be intercepted, as has occurred in Iraq[2]. Drones after all are robots, which contain one or multiple embedded computers, which run software, which has a high probability of containing security vulnerabilities. With that in mind, and the fact that many components and some software are COTS products, finding and exploiting a vulnerability may not require as much research and analysis as previously thought. We have been operating drones over Iran for some time, so they have had time to analyze the command and control traffic and poke at the actual software running the craft. That said, I more or less believe that Iran went with the simpler yet effective RF jamming technique, hence the appearance of malfunction to the US drone operator(s). [1]https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/17946-Drone-Wars--When-Cyber-Warfare-Becomes-Real.html [2]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html __________________ "Crime is an extension of business through illegal means, politics is an extension of crime through legal means."
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