Something like this was to be expected! Unencrypted raw video data? This makes me laugh!
Is this truly the military, or a do it yourself guy who made those machines?
It surprises me that so far drones would not be intercepted by iranian hackers, to locate US bases, and crash those vehicles!
I saw reports of the drone video being unencrypted well over a year ago. Either it was too expensive to fix, or the military didn't consider it a threat. I don't agree with either theory.
Of course if I were in the military... I would want 5 drones with encrypted video and 1 drone with bogus images transmitting unencrypted video for the purpose of dis-information.
Unfortunately I don't think our guys are thinking that far ahead.
This has got to be the best marketing slogan for SkyGrabber imanineable "Even captures video from US Drones".
But seriously, slapping a DSP in front of the antenna to encrypt the data can't be that hard, let alone expensive.
"Predator drones are built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego. Some of its communications technology is proprietary, so widely used encryption systems aren't readily compatible, said people familiar with the matter."
[citation][nom]Rancifer7[/nom]Maybe they should try secure, or hey, even encrypted wireless transmission. Just a thought.[/citation]
+1. Just make sure not to use some stupid Wierless encryption standard like WEP (broken in under 15 minutes).
[citation][nom]scurvywombat[/nom]"Predator drones are built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego. Some of its communications technology is proprietary, so widely used encryption systems aren't readily compatible, said people familiar with the matter."WSJ[/citation]
[citation][nom]B-Unit[/nom]LMAO! Nice 'proprietary' system. Hope they dont win any more contracts.[/citation]
+1. This is why they should run Linux + Open Source stuff
[citation][nom]scurvywombat[/nom]"Predator drones are built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego. Some of its communications technology is proprietary, so widely used encryption systems aren't readily compatible, said people familiar with the matter."WSJ[/citation]
In any case, the military are to blame.
As any engineering company designing and building a product, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc must design a product complaint with the specification of the contractee. And if I were writing the specification for the predator I would certainly add this simple requirement:
"All communications with the unit must be encrypted"
If they are not is either because it was not specified or it was but the contractor couldn't implemented ant the military accepted the deviation from the specification. In either case, they are to blame.
Well, if someone sent a giant RC plane at you strapped with a bomb, wouldn't you want to send it right back up their asses?
I'll all for a unmanned military, but at the same time, I'm all for no military...
I always loved American politics (beats boring Canadian politics), but as always, what amsues me the most is the senselesness.