Computer Virus Attacks U.S. Drone Fleet

10 October 2011

A computer virus first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones. This computer virus entails the capability of logging pilots’ every key stoke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other pertinent war zones. Network security specialist commented the virus has resisted multiple efforts in removal from the Creech’s computers and the infection underlies the ongoing security risks in the U.S. military’s most important weapons system. “We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” states a source familiar with the network infection, “We think it’s benign, but we just don’t know.” It is unknown whether the virus and key logger payload was intentional or accidental; this may be a common piece of malware making its way into a sensitive network. Specialists are unaware of the depth of the virus however they are certain the infection has hit both classified and unclassified machines at Creech entitling secret data captured by the key logger enabling transmission over the public internet to someone outside of the military chain of command. Predator and Reaper crews utilize removable hard drives to load map updates and transport mission videos from one computer to another, the use of these hard drives are a possible spread of the computer virus. Technicians are trying to get the virus off by following the removal instructions, but the virus kept coming back, which the technicians had to completely erase the internal hard drive and completely rebuild them from scratch. Lt. Col. Stated, “We generally do not discuss specific vulnerabilities, threats, or responses to our computer networks, since that helps people looking to exploit or attack our systems to refine their approach.” As of now the Senior officers at Creech are briefed daily on the virus, and no one is alarmed just yet.

Reliability: 9


Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/10/tech/innovation/virus-hits-drone-fleet-wired/index.html?iref=obnetwork

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