Fox is reporting that at least some of the UAV video in Iraq is being tapped by Iranian-supported militias there:
Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.
U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America’s enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.
Open source reporting indicates that surveillance targets are often worked for many hours prior to direct action, so hacking into video feeds could indeed alert the threat – although, speaking from a pilot’s perspective, it’s safe to say that an urban are looks far different from above than it does from street level, and all of Iraq that is desert looks more or less the same as the rest of it.
I would have thought that the feeds of the larger drones (at least) had encrypted comm and control links.
I remember working at PEO C4I and being amazed that the drone feeds from the Bosnian debacle were streamed over TV channels in Europe. Bandwidth. Disadvantaged users. Familiar refrain. I know the chorus.
Prototype equipment, too, IIRC.
I was also surprised that the data was not encrypted. Not expensive or leading edge; I get that question all the time from clients for video data in the civilian world regarding security video, especially with IP and wireless use becoming more commonplace.
Geez, perhaps DOD should call Sony, Panasonic, Axis, or ….
How could anybody NOT know this was coming? Would be the 1st part of the counter-UAV checklist in the Jr. Woodchuck Guidebook….
The Military leadership were never Junior Woodchucks.
You realize, don’t you, QM, that the Jr. Woodchuck Guide Book is THE authoritative last word on EVERYTHING! Would that the Nat. Command authority had access to it….
As Donald once said, ” That wonderful, wonderful Manual”.
Yes, Indeed it is! But, Junior Woodchuckdom is not only sexist, but it’s homophobic besides. An ongoing hate crime over the ages. You can’t expect such sensitive souls to avail themselves of such Neandertholic activities.
Only truly warped souls, such as you, me, and all the others who post in Chez Lex, would be members of the Junior Woodchucks. The Ladies excepted, of course. Their refinement would prohibit such rough activities.
They would join the Littlist Chickadees.
Over reliance on UAVs is going to get us in big trouble one day, I predict. Too many single points of failure in their complex C3 links – not only easy to take down, but also easy to hack, apparently.
Yes, this specific problem can be fixed, but I fear it’s the entire system, dependent on massive bandwidth through SATCOM, that’s overly vulnerable. I know they’re cheap, but if the US comes to rely on UAV/UCAV as its primary or sole source of recon and primary source of tactical airpower, we could be well and truly hosed some day.
Problem is, UAVs don’t take casualties, so the politicians love them.
One of the problems with encrypting video is latency. Making decisions based on information that is a few seconds old can be detrimental. I am surprised, however, that it can be picked off on the internet.
Geez. We tunnel our VPN’s with scarcely a thought, secure our home wireless networks against free-loaders, but UAV video…what’s the point? Right?
Now, if that were Maverick video they were tapping in to, I might be inclined to post the schedule.
This is absurd and ridiculous. Sadly, all too common for the procurement end of the bureaucracy.
It is kind of funny – just imagine Ahab the arab looking at the feed thinking “hmm, I have seen this particular mud walled hut in a stinking cess-pool of a village somewhere before. Ackmed, go wave your arm out the windows. Oh $hit”
Bwaahahahah! I was thinking the same thing, G-man!
You two are evil and warped. Where did you get such minds. Where do we get more?
QM/
You wanna see a warped mind? Go back to your LSU “crack” at the Merry Christmas post and read my reply….cackle…
Check that, QM, it was “Chocked & Chained” Must…improve…short-term memory….more Adderall…or less Barbancourt….or both…
That’s OK, we now know for sure you’re an LSU grad.
+1
I’m wondering if these are the non-Predator type UAV’s – the “tactical” ones like Scan Eagle and such that don’t necessarily use a SATCOM connection back to the ground station.
According to the story, the links weren’t encrypted. At least the video was not encrypted – I’m not an expert on the Predator.
I’d bet the late-model MQ-1s are encrypted, MQ-9s almost certainly are…and I know for a fact that all military RQ-4s use encrypted links for everything.
‘Don’t pay attention to that story behind the curtain. Trust us in government to safeguard your medical information.’
Yeah, right.
Ok, I’m angry. A little angry about the fact that “someone” did not encrypt that satellite feed. But I’m really, REALLY angry that nobody hereabouts told me that there was some really good TV available for just $25.00 so that I could watch in real time. Damn. I’d buy the goody now except that the barn door might get closed and I’m going to need that $25 if our wonderful government continues on present course and speed.
Give it a few weeks and it’ll be all over YouTube…at least for a day or so.
Yeah, boy, those drones’re gonna replace manned aircraft, awright. Just like BVR missiles made guns obsolete. Brave New World and all that.
Doesn’t anybody in the Pentagon remember the Ault Report and the creation of TOPGUN? Doesn’t the name John Boyd ring any bells over there? Red Flag? DACT? Sheesh, I’m a freaking Coastie and I saw this coming.
Not to mention EMP.
Who let the Hooligan Navy in? Now the neighborhood really has been lost.
Hey, I resemble that remark.
23+ years USCG and almost 5 of that with the USN.
My callsign in VT-27 was “Hooligan”.
We can’t all be square jawed, steely eyed fighter pilots and are fairly comfortable in our own skins.
Remind me not to tangle with Hooligans….I’m getting (hell I AM) too old for that stuff….
Y’know, they try really hard to recruit us tall fellers. So’s we can wade ashore if our cutter sinks.
The MQ-1s and MQ-9s use nonsecure civil satcom links; AF won’t have bandwidth to host those feeds internally until they have a constellation of WGS (Wideband Global SATCOM) birds on orbit.
“Another challenge for the Air Force is communications. Unmanned aircraft work well when there are assured communication links for both control and downloading the data. With medium and large UASs operating beyond line of sight of their control stations, satellite communications are required.
The Predator and Reaper rely on commercial, unencrypted links, which could potentially be intercepted by someone. Much of the UAS control is also done on Ku frequency bands, a frequency intended for satellite control, not air-to-ground communications. As a result, UAS control is a low priority—and the Air Force risks not having assured access.
To overcome these problems, the Air Force recognizes that the future Wideband Global SATCOM satellite or similar technologies can provide the secure communication links. In addition, the service is looking at potential surrogate satellite networks using high-altitude aircraft, such as lighter-than-air vehicles, to provide a data link network node.”
– Isherwood, Michael W. “Roadmap for Robotics.” Air Force magazine, December 2009.
Yep! It’s so secure that anyone with serious anti-sat capability will blow the plans out of space.
The political leadership is making the same mistake Krushchev made with the Soviet Air Force when he claimed they didn’t need Air Defense Fighter Pilots anymore since missiles would take over the job.
Technology is a seductive thing, and it’s really great when it works. But, being one of those nasty Engineers, I know you frequently can’t rely on it when the chips are down. You’d better be able to quickly go back to the old ways of doing things, or you will find yourself in very deep Kimshi. In war, it gets worse. Much worse.
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No excuse, sir! However, I gotta believe this is, at least partially, a result of Sec Gates demanding that the AF increase UAV production by whatever bazillion percent with immediate delivery if not sooner. If you want it bad, you get it bad!
What Steve C. said. Dang, I would love to watch some deserving person get his! Unlike First Manassas, we wouldn’t have spectators clogging the roads.
The problem with encrypting video is not lag time. There is already substantial lag in the transmission via satellite. The issue is that the video is already a bandwidth hog and with multiple UAV’s transmitting through one/two comm satelitte’s encryption of that signal could overwhelm the channel. Everything requires trade-offs and in this case to allow encrypted control channels the video feeds were left un-encrypted. As a private pilot that has flown over cities and open land I can agree that without distinct markers looking down on the land scape would give little information about the exact target of the video.