US drone transmissions are not as secure as we think

You know what they say – a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and in the case of the US military with their vaunted army of Predator and Reaper drones, it was discovered that our men and women in uniform have failed to secure the transmissions of more than 50% of their drone fleet – this bit of information coming about four years after discovering that militants were already tapping its drone video feeds. Back in 2008, a Shiite militant was apprehended after his laptop carried files of intercepted drone video feeds, where the Pentagon then pledged to retrofit their collection of drones with spanking new communications protocols and encrypted transceivers to avoid interceptions.

Four years down the road, it could be oversight, or complacency, that saw only “30-50%” of America’s Predators and Reapers are running on fully encrypted transmissions. As for the rest of the fleet, its communications will be completely secure until 2014. Do you think that this is a foolhardy decision, or could it be due to the lack of sufficient funds to make sure that all their drones are fully secure and encrypted?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Military
Tags: Drones, Hacking