Computer Virus Could Alter Drone Flight Path
Wired Magazine reported on October 10th that computer hackers had infected the software of the U.S. military’s drone airplanes with a virus.
Wired Magazine reported on October 10th that computer hackers had infected the software of the U.S. military’s drone airplanes with a virus.
“Officials at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada knew for two weeks about a virus infecting the drone “cockpits” there. But they kept the information about the infection to themselves — leaving the unit that’s supposed to serve as the Air Force’s cybersecurity specialists in the dark. The network defenders at the 24th Air Force learned of the virus by reading about it in Danger Room,” wrote Wired reporter Noah Shachtman.
According to Wendell Birdwell, chief technology officer for CyberConFide Security Options LLC in San Francisco, a two week window of opportunity with computer hackers flying the remote control drone predator airplanes from an alternate control room could be devastating to national security. “Worst case scenario is that the Taliban get hold of it and shoot the Pope while he’s sleeping. Bam! World War III. Another case could be that some of our finest military leaders don’t get to finish the Army/Navy football game because of an unauthorized flyover. We’ve already seen that the Congress and White House were targeted by model airplanes….but OUR OWN DRONES! Holy Mollee!” When asked if there was a way to defend against this eventuality, Birdwell said, “why yes. George Lucas had the right idea. Use light sabers. 'Your father's light saber,' said Obe Wan. "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire,'” said Birdwell quoting Star Wars with a certain longing expression like a child wishing he could still get chocolate milk at the school lunch room from the same cafeteria lady who had been laid off after thirty-five years of work in the last round of budget cuts. "Drones sure would buy a sxxx load of milk," said Birdwell who admitted that the worker was his mother.
“Now we’ve got some fat fxxx General sitting at Fort Creech evaporating people miles away. Welcome to the future. Of course the resistance to this is going to be as substantial as that astronaut against Hal the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey," said Birdwell. "An even bigger concern is that the drones aren't commandeered by our enemies, but by 'big brother' within our own government who blames the sudden dissappearance of Senator and Mrs. Ferdwerggle's Mercedes while riding on Interstate 20 on an unexplained computer hacker virus on the eve of an important Senate vote. In that case, I'd check out former VP Dick Cheney if he's still living when it happens," said Birdwell.
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