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

[edit]

*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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DTN News: Cyber-Criminals Targeting Social Networks, Experts Warn

DTN News: Cyber-Criminals Targeting Social Networks, Experts Warn *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) VALENCIA, Spain - August 2, 2009: Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites are inceasingly being targeted by cyber-criminals drawn to the wealth of personal information supplied by users, experts warn. Data posted on the sites -- name, date of birth, address, job details, email and phone numbers -- is a windfall for hackers, participants at Campus Party, one of the world's biggest gatherings of Internet enthusiasts, said. A vicious virus Koobface -- "koob" being "book" in reverse -- has affected thousands Facebook and Twitter users since August 2008, said Asier Martinez, a security specialist at global IT solutions provider Panda Security. "Its spread has been very significant and it has been detected in 4,000 different variants," he told AFP at the week-long event which wraps up Sunday in Valencia in eastern Spain. The virus hijacks the accounts of social networking site users and sends messages steering friends to hostile sites coontaining malware, a malicious software often designed to infiltrate a computer system for illicit purposes. In one of its variants, Koobface sends the victim a warning that its Flash player is outdated along with an invitation to download a new version, which is is in fact the virus. Malware can be used to steal bank account data or credit card information once installed on a personal computer. Facebook has sought to resist attacks by Koobface and similar viruses by blocking links to hostile sites and shutting down accounts from users that show signs of infection, such as sending too many messages. "You also must be very careful with people who ask to join your friends list," said Laura Garcia, who writes a popular blog about Internet security, adding that hackers often sent requests. Another danger of social networking sites are the popular quizzes, horoscopes and games made available for free to users which can sometimes be used to hide links to hostile sites, she added. Birthday greetings and well as messages sent at Christmas and other holidays may also appear to come from friends when in fact they are linked directly to sites that try to convince would-be victims to reveal personal information like passwords or bank numbers, said Martinez. The vulnerability of social networking sites was underscored in a study by security company Sophos made public earlier this month. It found that about half of all companies un the United States block some or all access to them due to concerns about cyber incursions via the sites. Facebook says that less than one percent of its users have been affected by a security issue, such as a virus, since the site opened in 2004. Garcia said the number of viruses detected in recent years has exploded while the profile of cyber-criminals has changed. "Before it was very savvy teenagers who wanted to show off their computer skills. Now you don't really need to know much about information technology to be a hacker, all the tools have already been created," she said. Real cyber-crime mafias have now taken over, especially in Russia, China Brazil and the Ukraine whose goals are purely economic gain, she said, underscoring that hacking could be highly lucrative. For an initial investment of 1,500 dollars (1,050 euros) for Mpack, a programme created to infect web pages, hackers can obtain a profit of between 21,000 and 847,000 dollars in just one month, Martinez said. Around 6,000 people are expected to attend the Campus Party, which unites participants from all over the world to share ideas, experiences and all types of activities related to computers, communications and new technology. The annual event began in Spain in 1997. Editions of the event have since been held in Brazil and Colombia.