TONIGHT ON EXTREME VIDEOS THAT SEEM FAKE BUT ARE NOT: Hacked U.S. Predator Drone Feeds
Iraqi insurgents have reportedly intercepted live video feeds from the U.S. military's Predator drones using a $25.95 Windows application which allows them to track the pilotless aircraft undetected.[...]
This apparent security breach, which had been known in military and intelligence circles to be possible, arose because the Predator unmanned aerial vehicles do not use encryption in the final link to their operators on the ground. (By contrast, every time you log on to a bank or credit card Web site, or make a phone call on most modern cellular networks, your communications are protected by encryption technology.)[...]
When a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, is far from its base, terrain prohibits it from transmitting directly to its operator. Instead, it switches to a satellite link. That means an enterprising hacker can use his own satellite dish, a satellite modem, and a copy of the SkyGrabber Windows utility sold by the Russian company SkySoftware to intercept and display the UAV's transmissions.
via cbsnews.com
As Turks mentioned, "So they basically use DirectTV..." Goodlord - I wonder if they password protect their WiFi networks, or just name them "MilitaryInterwebz_H4x0rzPLZDontSteal"?
FACEPALM of the year.
