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Video of Top Secret US drone - looks intact in Iran

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preslove said:
None of this is true, you wingnut idiot. No one has confirmed anything about the drone.
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LOL - I guess John Stewart didn't cover it on last nights Daily Show.

Let me provide you an adult news source.

A senior U.S. official has confirmed to Fox News that images aired by Iranian state television do in fact show the secret U.S. drone that went down last week in eastern Iran.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...orted-images-downed-us-drone/?test=latestnews
 
I call bullshit on Iran taking control over it.

First of all, the on-board computer systems are encrypted. Second of all, even if you knew how to defeat the encryption, you would also need to have the proprietary software to fly the thing, which includes proprietary hardware the software is sitting on. Meaning, there is no way to interface with the device.

The story about the unit using an auto pilot program to land itself after communication loss makes perfect sense and that's what happened folks.

Look at the room Iran has that thing sitting in - look at the uniforms of the military officials. These people are not capable of hacking into and taking over this unit.
 
Vic Vega said:
First of all, the on-board computer systems are encrypted. Second of all, even if you knew how to defeat the encryption, you would also need to have the proprietary software to fly the thing, which includes proprietary hardware the software is sitting on. Meaning, there is no way to interface with the device.
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In case you missed the story, in October Wired.com ran an article saying some US drones had been infected with malware - the type malware that steals passwords and other information.

From at least October we know that some US drones have been compromised, how severely compromised, I do not know.

Who designed the guidance systems for the drone? Was it outsourced to china or india? How secure is the company that designed the drone systems?

Before you can BS on something, you need to know the facts.

As far as we know, some mole from the chinese government went to work for the contractor that designed the guidance systems for the drone. The malware infection that was reported back in october allowed someone to take control of the drone and land it safely so it can be delivered to china.

With all of the outsourcing the US does, how do we know our systems are secure? We do not even build our own hardrives and motherboards.
 
Last edited:
It wasn't shot down. It may have been jammed, but there's no way Iran attacked its encryption and busted the control link with anything but jamming IMO (armchair general holla).

After the stealth heli incident and now this I fully expect the US to accidentally scuttle a nuclear sub on the coast of North Korea so that they can have a look-see as well.
 
Texashiker said:
The US said the drone malfunctioned, Iran said they were able to take control of the drone.

The majority of people will not admit when they screw up, its just human nature. So for the time being, I will take Irans version of the story.
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So you believe that Iran, which can't even create a nuclear weapon (hello 1945 United States) overrode the security, which is absolutely vast on these things, and flew it in? And if they did that wouldn't they say they did it instead of shooting it down? It's not like it's a secret trick at that point, since the US would have been like wtf I lost control of this and those guys are controlling it instead.
 
Doppel said:
It wasn't shot down. It may have been jammed, but there's no way Iran attacked its encryption and busted the control link with anything but jamming IMO (armchair general holla).
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What about the malware infection reported by wired.com back in October?

You are going to tell me that malware to get into the drone computer system, but its impossible for the malware to interfere with the encryption?

Who says the encryption had to be broke? Couldn't the malware just turn the encryption off?
 
Texashiker said:
The US said the drone malfunctioned, Iran said they were able to take control of the drone.

The majority of people will not admit when they screw up, its just human nature. So for the time being, I will take Irans version of the story.
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Yep. The US also said that it "accidentally" strayed into Iranian airspace.
 
Obama didn't destroy because he wants it sold to the Chinese. He wants a level playing field. It's unfair if the US has an advantage.
 
Vic Vega said:
the on-board computer systems are encrypted.
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Doppel said:
So you believe that Iran, which can't even create a nuclear weapon (hello 1945 United States) overrode the security, which is absolutely vast on these things, and flew it in? And if they did that wouldn't they say they did it instead of shooting it down? It's not like it's a secret trick at that point, since the US would have been like wtf I lost control of this and those guys are controlling it instead.
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Are you sure about that?

Insurgents were able to use a mass-market software program to view live feeds from U.S. military Predator drones monitoring targets in Iraq, a U.S. official indicated to CNN Thursday.
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http://articles.cnn.com/2009-12-17/us/drone.video.hacked_1_uav-systems-encryption-feeds?_s=PM:US

I know its not the same thing but I wouldn't put it past the people who design these to make a fuckup with something so simply like encryption.
 
Doppel said:
So you believe that Iran, which can't even create a nuclear weapon (hello 1945 United States) overrode the security, which is absolutely vast on these things, and flew it in? And if they did that wouldn't they say they did it instead of shooting it down? It's not like it's a secret trick at that point, since the US would have been like wtf I lost control of this and those guys are controlling it instead.
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nuclear weapon production is irrelevant. to say "they can't accomplish what the us did 60 years ago" means nothing. wwii-america and 2011 iran are on completely different planets.

what is relevant is the fact that any filthy peasant with an internet connection could be a master hacker, and every computer ever made will have vulnerabilities.

that said, i doubt the thing in the video is the real deal.
 
Was it confirmed or not whether the drone has build-in self destruct features if someone wrongfully tinkers with it? Or should we wait until the Chinese/Russians find out? 🙂

Also, malfunctioned/misfired/user error/etc is a common koolaid whenever military fails to enemy offense. 😉
 
gevorg said:
Was it confirmed or not whether the drone has build-in self destruct features if someone wrongfully tinkers with it? Or should we wait until the Chinese/Russians find out? 🙂

Also, malfunctioned/misfired/user error/etc is a common koolaid whenever military fails to enemy offense. 😉
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Word on the street is that it was DESIGNED to land if communication with HQ was interrupted.
 
Texashiker said:
What about the malware infection reported by wired.com back in October?

You are going to tell me that malware to get into the drone computer system, but its impossible for the malware to interfere with the encryption?

Who says the encryption had to be broke? Couldn't the malware just turn the encryption off?
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/10/drone-computer-virus-air-force.html

and

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/A...s-Nuisance-Rather-Than-Serious-Threat-101053/
 
Texashiker said:
Who designed the guidance systems for the drone? Was it outsourced to china or india?
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Given we don't allow (technical) exports to China (see: ITAR), I highly doubt that any technical portions of any military project are ever made in China. While I believe exports are allowed to India (aren't they a F35 partner?), I doubt that anything is made over there either.


Texashiker said:
How secure is the company that designed the drone systems?
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If I remember correctly, the drone was manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and while they were hacked awhile back, there was no indication that drone secrets were stolen.

Texashiker said:
As far as we know, some mole from the chinese government went to work for the contractor that designed the guidance systems for the drone. The malware infection that was reported back in october allowed someone to take control of the drone and land it safely so it can be delivered to china.
Click to expand...

Given what I assume would be a pretty stringent level of security required for the reported sensitivity of the components on board the drone, I just can't see the government not taking the necessary precautions after a possible security breach because of computer malware. Although, like I said in the other thread... I don't recall the malware being anything serious.

Texashiker said:
With all of the outsourcing the US does, how do we know our systems are secure? We do not even build our own hardrives and motherboards.
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Some companies do manufacture some (if not all of their) mainboards. 😛
 
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