The WSJ reports terrorists in Iraq are using a $26 off-the-shelf piece of software called SkyGrabber –which is a written program that intercepts satellite data– to hack into the video feeds of U.S. Predator drones, the unpiloted planes that are operated by remote control.
It seems that Iraqi insurgents and the Taliban found a way to hack into the live video feeds of unmanned Predator drones by taking advantage of an “unprotected communications link” to intercept live video feeds while U.S.drones are in flight. They downloaded video feed with the software, which is essentially a satellite network downloader.
The internet is abuzz today not only with news of U.S drones being hacked with SkyGrabber — originally developed by Russian software company SkySoftware — but also with the fact that the captured video feeds could have provided the terrorists with the capability of seeing what our forces see and with that information avoid any surprise incursions from the US Military.
However, U.S. officials are saying there is no proof that any data was in fact interfered with to control the drone planes. Despite denying the connection, it is reported U.S. Military is encrypting video feeds from the drones from now on.
