Posted on 06/30/2012 3:44:32 AM PDT by 6SJ7
The U.S. government, understandably, doesn't want its drone technology to fall out of the sky and into other peoples' laps. But being able to hijack a drone and control it? That's even worse. And a team of researchers has done it for 1,000 bucks.
The University of Texas at Austin team successfully nabbed the drone on a dare from the Department of Homeland Security. They managed to do it through spoofing, a technique where a signal from hackers pretends to be the same as one sent to the drone's GPS.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
Spoofing GPS is not hard, but to do so and get past two humans in direct contact is almost impossible.
So, yes, the operators knew it was being spoofed.
Additionally, INS (internal guidance) is a back-up.
Can't “hack” the UAV/RPV command link. Would need NSA-grade crypto-crackers.
So, watching GPS jamming/spoofing is an interesting exercise in technology but was not a threat to the control of the platform. . .like I said, you have at least two humans in the loop that would detect the platform going off kilter and they would disengage the auto-pilot and make flight control inputs to fly the platform.
When the internal INS detects a wide variation between the GPS and the INS, signals are sent to the ground station and humans make corrective inputs to the UAV/RPV flight profile.
” You know I just had an image of a scene from Terminator Salvation...”
Yep, first thing that came to my mind also.
This “clone” technology should be made freely available on the internet.
There is a back door to everything operating on software, everything. Just ask the Iranians, or better yet, the White House. In the event you missed it, reread my post and the position I held from 74-76. It was much tougher to “crack” the code back then because the availability of the computers necessary to do so was extremely limited.
So I guess you can sleep comfortably thinking that just because it was a “controlled” exercise that someone with the access to technology way above UTA is not going to work on it because it was monitored by DHS. It is far different to expect an event than it is to it happening as a total surprise.
You might not think that if you knew that a significant percent of UT Austin students are foreigners. One time as I was walking across campus the Iranians had set up tents and were very angry and hollering at passerbys. It's a very liberal university and Austin, with it's city motto of "Keepin' Austin Weird" is THE headquarters for eco-wackos, hippies and RATS of Texas. One of it's professors lectures his students the world would be a better place if 90% were killed off with ebola. One more step left and they're Berkeley CA. The article doesn't name the students so it's very likely they aren't conservatives out for a fun afternoon of pranks. My money is on dry run.
I agree with you Bob, but it would be good to see every drone without a seach warrant from a court of open and approprite jurisdiction, to be spoof flown into the ground or better still, right into the control nacel of whatever is sending it.
Iranians had nothing to do with that UAV incident. Nothing. At. All. You wish to believe a third world nation has the expertise to lock-up flight controls then have at it.
Better computers today doesn’t mean easier to crack code as the computers today are better when it comes to writing code and protecting software.
“In the event you missed it, reread my post and the position I held from 74-76.”
I suppose you can sleep comfortably feeling that you are well aware of up-to-date UAV/RPV technology because of what you did nearly 40-yrs ago. (By the way, you are not the only one with experience behind the “Black” door).
“It is far different to expect an event than it is to it happening as a total surprise.”
Executive lead agent for UAV/RPV development is USAF, not DHS. DHS does their own R&D, limited as it is, to modify for their own missions. They are not aware of DOD UAV/RPV state-of-the-art technology/protections.
Of course, based upon your two years of experience nearly 40-yrs ago, you are fully aware we “hack at” everything all the time, exploring for weaknesses and flaws, to find where things can/need to be improved. This is the smart thing to do because as you are also aware, “There are no bug-free programs, just undiscovered bugs.”
Cheers
;-)
No! The most disconcerting news would be if the graduate students on the team were from Iran, China and Pakistan.
I am far more worried by the domestic use of drones than I am of foreigners ability to defeat them.
Every sale they make, they want your personal information. Last time I bought a device there, they asked at the register, what I was going to be using it for, plus my name and address. You’d think I was buying cough medicine or something! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I know. That presents no problem. I pay cash and lie like a rug to protect my privacy. I am not a criminal and lie simply because its wrong to presume I am doing something wrong or illegal.Most of my advertising goes to the public librarian.
Now it will take years of research, endless government grants and how many acts of Congress to find out how they did it before they can actually be allowed to fix it.
They need to back off the fascist thing.
Color me skeptical. The DoD is highly concerned about the security and vulnerablity of GPS. I doubt a bunch of amateur-hour grad students know anything they do not. I dismiss any claims that the Iranians made of “hijacking” a drone. They may have recovered one that suffered a mechanical or electronic failure or which they brought down and later fixed up. I doubt that anyone in the DoD would allow a drone that was susceptible to reverse-engineering to fly anywhere near Iran.
LLS
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