DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The 'Nasty' Computer Virus Infecting U.S. Military Drones

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: The 'Nasty' Computer Virus Infecting U.S. Military Drones

**Unmanned aircraft used by the Air Force for espionage and combat have been stung by malware. Should we be worried?

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Week

(NSI News Source Info) KOTTAKKAL, Kerala, India - October 11, 2011: A fleet of American Predator and Reaper drones has been infected with a computer virus, reports Noah Shachtman at Wired. The unmanned aircraft, which allow the military to attack targets without risking the lives of U.S. soldiers, have become a key tool in America's war on terrorism.

Since President Obama took office, drones have killed more than 2,000 suspected militants and civilians. But now, it's the drones that are being targeted. Here's what you should know:

What does the virus do?

It's a "nasty" virus called a keylogger, says Max Eddy at Geekosystem. Pilots maneuvering drones issue commands remotely with keyboards and joysticks. And this virus can record every single keystroke.

How dangerous is this?

Because hackers might use any new information to refine their tactics, the Air Force doesn't publicly discuss attacks on its computer networks, says the Washington Post. But Wired's Shachtman says the infection has hit classified and unclassified machines at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, which at least raises the possibility that secret data may have been captured — though no specific reports of classified information leaks have yet surfaced.

Where did the virus come from?

It's not clear if the virus infiltrated the military's computer systems through "a typical infection, or if it was specifically created to target the drone computer control system," says Dean Takahashi at Venture Beat. In other words: No one knows for sure how it got there.

What now?

Computer specialists at Creech are still trying to wipe the virus off their machines. Thus far, they've reportedly been unsuccessful, as the virus resists every effort to eliminate it. Officials are also in the process of erasing their internal hard drives to rebuild them from scratch — a rather "time consuming effort," says Shachtman.

List of United States - Drones / UAV (Courtesy Wikipedia)

• Emmen Aerospace - Swiper
• Emmen Aerosapce - Super Swiper
• Emmen Aerosapce - Condor
• Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, weapon (1916)
• Kettering Bug, weapon (1918)
• OQ-2/TDD-1 Radioplane, target (1939)
• Ryan A/BQM-34 series Firebee I and II, target (1951)
• North American X-10, research (1953)
• Northrop GAM-67 Crossbow, multi-role (1956)
• Northrop AQM-35, target (1956)
• McDonnell ADM-20 Quail, decoy (1958)
• Beech MQM-61A Cardinal, target (1959)
• Gyrodyne QH-50, research (1960)
• Beech AQM-37 Jayhawk, target (1961)
• QH-50 DASH, attack (torpedo launch)
• Ryan Model 147/AQM-34 series Fire Fly and Lightning Bug, reconnaissance (1962)
• Northrop M/BQM-74A Chukar, target, decoy (1964)
• Lockheed D-21, reconnaissance (1964)
• Ryan AQM-91 Firefly, reconnaissance (1968)
• BQM-90, target (1970)
• Boeing YQM-94A Compass Cope B, reconnaissance (1973)
• BAE Systems SkyEye (with the United Kingdom), reconnaissance (1973)
• Ryan YQM-98A Compass Cope R, reconnaissance (1974)
• Ryan AQM-81A Firebolt, target (1983)
• BAI BQM-147 Dragon Drone, reconnaissance (1986)
• RQ-2 Pioneer, reconnaissance (1986)
• General Atomics GNAT-750, reconnaissance (1989)
• Sikorsky Cypher, research, (1992)
• Teledyne Ryan BQM-145 Peregrine, Reconnaissance, (1992)
• RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator, reconnaissance, combat (1995)
• LR-3 Tigershark, reconnaissance (2004)
• RQ-3 Dark Star, research (1996)
• RQ-6 Outrider, reconnaissance (1996)
• Bell Eagle Eye, tiltrotor reconnaissance (1998)
• AeroVironment Puma AE, reconnaissance (1998)
• IAI RQ-5 Hunter, reconnaissance (1999)
• AAI RQ-7 Shadow, reconnaissance (1999)
• MQ-8 Fire Scout, reconnaissance (2000)
• RQ-4 Global Hawk, reconnaissance (2001)
• AeroVironment Wasp III, reconnaissance (2001)
• MQ-9 Reaper, reconnaissance, air attack (2006)
• Desert Hawk, reconnaissance (2001)
• AeroVironment Dragon Eye RQ-14, reconnaissance (2002)
• Boeing X-45, research (2002)
• RQ-15 Neptune, naval reconnaissance (2002)
• X-47 Pegasus, research (2003)
• Boeing X-50, research (2003)
• Boeing X-46, research (2003)
• ScanEagle, reconnaissance (2004)
• Systems Integration Evaluation Remote Research Aircraft (SIERRA), research (2009)
• Boeing A160 Hummingbird, research (2005)
• AeroVironment Raven RQ-11, reconnaissance (2005)
• CQ-10 Snowgoose, cargo (2005)
• Lockheed P-175 Polecat, research (2006)
• RQ-16 T-Hawk, reconnaissance (2006)
• Boeing Dominator, experimental (2007) -Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator-
• Composite Engineering BQM-167 Streaker, in development (2006)^[59]
• Propulsive Wing, high lift, large cargo-carrying, cross-flow fan propulsion (2008)
• MQ-1C Warrior, air attack (2009)
• General Atomics Avenger, reconnaissance, attack (2009)
• RQ-170 Sentinel, reconnaissance (2009)
• Arcturus-UAV T-20, reconnaissance, attack (2009)
• Boeing Phantom Eye, reconnaissance (2011)
• Nano Hummingbird, surveillance and reconnaissance (2011)
• NASA Mini-Sniffer, research (1975 to 1982)
• General Atomics ALTUS, research (1996)
• NASA Advanced Soaring Concepts Apex research (cancelled before first flight, 1999)
• NASA Helios and Pathfinder, research (2001)
• Octatron SkySeer
• Switchblade (aircraft) (proposed)
• Aquila experimental Lockheed UAV, early 1980s
• Sadler Vampire UAV18-50, late 1980s Predator precursor
• Trek Aerospace Dragonfly
• Phantom Sentinel
• Insitu Aerosonde
• Vulture (UAV), Under development
• Global Observer Under development
• Boeing HALE Under development
• Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH or Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter^[60]
• Arcturus-UAV T-15^[61]
• Arcturus-UAV T-16^[61]
• Arcturus-UAV T-20^[61]
• Imaging 1's micro UAV^[62]
• ATAIR LEAPP^[63]
• ATAIR Micro LEAPP^[64]
• ATAIR Insect
• Vector P^[65]
• Lockheed Martin MPUAV Cormorant (Under development)
• Marcus UAV- Devil Ray UAV^[66]
• NASA Hyper III

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Week

*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

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