SkyGrabber How To
By Bob Brewin 12/17/09 05:10 pm ET
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the bad guys in Afghanistan and Iraq have cleverly figured out how to use a $29.95 software package called SkyGrabber to intercept video feeds from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The SkyGrabber software was developed by a Russian company to pirate commercial satellite TV and Internet feeds, and the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan has evidently figured out how to use it to tap into UAV air-to-ground links.
The Journal story catapulted SkyGrabber into the fifth most popular search term on Google for most of today, and as a result the SkyGrabber Web site was unreachable due to overwhelming traffic.
But if you want to learn more about SkyGrabber, Philip Coyle III, senior advisor at the Center for Defense Information, told me he had found this nifty YouTube video that provides a basic tutorial on how to install the software.
Softpedia provides some excellent screen shots from the SkyGrabber software package, including this one, which shows a toggle into the C-band frequency, which is used by Predator UAVs for an air to ground downlink
http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2009/12/ ... test_posts
note:malware authors have infected some versions of skygrabber on the 'net
DNR
Skygrabber - hacking UAVs
Skygrabber - hacking UAVs
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He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
RIGHT!?!?! i saw this on the news at the embassy yesterday, I'm not sure if I was in shock or hystarics, but I couldn't stop laughing.
Basicly the US thought it was smarter then everyone else, so why bother using crypto on UAV transmissions....
O_o wowzers....
Basicly the US thought it was smarter then everyone else, so why bother using crypto on UAV transmissions....
O_o wowzers....
knuffeltjes voor mijn knuffel
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/stuphsack/Sig.jpg[/img]
yep security through obscurity.
This fits the hacking realm as "Warviewing" - simply scanning for RF frequencies of cameras and their transmitters.
The skygrabber was meant to steal TV channels, but you apparently can scan freq for the UAVs - this could make drones easier to detect.
Imagine their excitement playing with Skygrabber
"Hey we got a picture - look you can see there is people down there!"
"Yea, it looks like the drone is locked on and ready to fire!"
"Hey doesn't that camel look just like the one you have ahmed??"
BOOM!
According to the news, the DoD has already put encryption on the UAV freq now, perhaps freq hopping and spectrum hopping.
DNR
This fits the hacking realm as "Warviewing" - simply scanning for RF frequencies of cameras and their transmitters.
The skygrabber was meant to steal TV channels, but you apparently can scan freq for the UAVs - this could make drones easier to detect.
Imagine their excitement playing with Skygrabber
"Hey we got a picture - look you can see there is people down there!"
"Yea, it looks like the drone is locked on and ready to fire!"
"Hey doesn't that camel look just like the one you have ahmed??"
BOOM!
According to the news, the DoD has already put encryption on the UAV freq now, perhaps freq hopping and spectrum hopping.
DNR
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He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
update:
Reading Mission Control Data out of Predator Drone
video feeds
http://digitalnomad.suck-o.net/DNR/red/ ... r-feed.pdf
Reading Mission Control Data out of Predator Drone
video feeds
http://digitalnomad.suck-o.net/DNR/red/ ... r-feed.pdf
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He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
As for considering the enemies genius - it is even possible that this flaw was only discovered by a ham-radio/warviewer that just happened to scan the right RF at the right time - just as a drone was overhead. With Iraq and Afganistan being poor - I imagine many people steal pay per view channels by intercepting airwaves - it is possible the citizens found out about the RF before the enemy did!
"Anything good on TV tonight ahmed?"
"naw, just a drone flying overhead"
Specifications for UAVs and UGV are available on the internet and many use COTS devices and of course radio freq are specified and posted publicly.
DNR
"Anything good on TV tonight ahmed?"
"naw, just a drone flying overhead"
Specifications for UAVs and UGV are available on the internet and many use COTS devices and of course radio freq are specified and posted publicly.
DNR
-
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
Army: Working to encrypt UAV video feeds
By Michael Hoffman, John Reed and Joe Gould - Staff writers
Posted : Monday Dec 21, 2009 7:30:25 EST
The Army is scrambling to protect the live video feeds from its unmanned aerial vehicles from being intercepted by the enemy. Raven drones will be retrofitted with encryption technology as early as this month.
Defense officials confirmed Dec. 17 that Iraqi insurgents have been capturing the nonsecure, line-of-sight communications signals from Army and Air Force drones since mid-2008.
Army officials acknowledged that the service has fielded hundreds of drones without the ability to encrypt the signals that ground forces rely upon for intelligence and surveillance of insurgent hideouts or roadside-bomb hot spots.
However, the Army will retrofit the handheld Raven and other UAVs over “at least two years,” targeting currently deployed systems first, said Col. Gregory Gonzalez, the Army’s project manager for unmanned aerial vehicles.
For the Shadow, Hunter, Warrior Alpha and the Extended-Range Multipurpose UAV, the Army will retrofit all systems with encryption, as funding permits, said Gonzalez.
“This is not the first time that we have heard about the potential threat against full motion video. The threats are ongoing, and the Department of Defense has taken some risk,” said Gonzalez. “We received specific direction from the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the last year to fix the problem.”
A report published in the Dec. 17 edition of The Wall Street Journal detailed how defense officials earlier this year discovered laptops in Iraq loaded with a $26 Russian-made software program called SkyGrabber that hacked into video broadcast by Predator cameras, which show the location of insurgents being targeted by the drones.
Besides the SkyGrabber software, insurgents have used high-tech methods to capture the video feeds.
U.S. troops found advanced electronic warfare equipment in a 2008 raid on Shiite militia, according to an Air Force intelligence officer briefed on the raid.
Army officials acknowledged the interceptions, and the Pentagon issued a general statement on the security of its intelligence gathering.
“The Department of Defense constantly evaluates and seeks to improve the performance and security of our various ISR systems and platforms. As we identify shortfalls, we correct them as part of a continuous process of seeking to improve capabilities and security,” the statement said.
One Air Force official contends the insurgents’ ability to watch drone feeds has adversely affected U.S. operations in the Middle East.
“We noticed a trend when going after these guys; that sometimes they seemed to have better early warning” of U.S. actions, said the officer briefed on the raid. “We went and did a raid on one of their safe houses and found all of this equipment that was highly technical, highly sophisticated. It was more sophisticated than any other equipment we’d seen Iraqi insurgents use.”
The militia, known as Kata’ib Hezbollah based out of Sadr City, Baghdad, has long been suspected of being a surrogate for Iran’s Quds Force, the wing of the Iranian Army responsible for conducting clandestine warfare outside of Iran via various insurgent groups.
“It was the technological know-how to make the antennas, computers and software go together and pick up the appropriate bands that was impressive,” the officer said.
Soon after the raid, top commanders in Iraq convened a task force to identify the extent of the threat and how best to deal with it, according to the officer. Initial findings showed the threat was isolated to Kata’ib Hezbollah.
“They knew that we were flying Predators over their heads 24/7, so it’s easy to say, ‘yeah, I know that I’m going to do a signals analysis search for [the drone] and take advantage of it,” the officer said.
The laptops loaded with the SkyGrabber software also had footage filmed by smaller Army UAVs as well as the Predators.
“We are well aware, and [Office of the Secretary of Defense] is well aware, and we have a well-researched response set in motion,” said Col. Robert Sova, the Army’s capability manager for unmanned aerial systems. “This ability, this is not new information.”
Ground units get the Predator feeds through a Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, or ROVER, — a mobile device that looks like a laptop that can either be carried by hand or mounted in a ground vehicle.
An encryption package can be added to the ROVER; however, not all troops have the encryption package. The latest ROVER model being tested by the Pentagon comes equipped with two advanced encryption packages.
The military has not implemented encryption for drones for “various reasons,” according to Sova.
But, Sova said, the ability to hack a drone’s video feed is a “very low risk” since the insurgents haven’t figured how to hack into the command and control systems of the drones.
“It’s not like they’re going to control the payload or move it off,” Sova said. “They’re able to see a specific interval, like a camera system in the mall.”
Sova considers it unlikely that an insurgent could tap into a specific drone overhead.
“It’s happenstance, if they were able to tap into that feed,” Sova said. “Only in the best scenario, and only for a short period of time.”
The Defense Department’s Office of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics directed the services to beef up encryption. Prior to his departure last year, Pentagon acquisitions czar John Young oversaw such a push, across all services, according to Gonzalez.
“Since these systems were first introduced, we’ve known [the risks of unencrypted video feeds],” Gonzalez said. “Your average off-the-street person isn’t able to get these feeds, but with enough effort you can. The risk to the Department of Defense seemed low. Now, for whatever reason, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has decided to reduce that risk.”
According to Gonzalez, by the first of the year, the Army will field encryption-capable Ravens, and other UAV systems will follow over the coming months and years.
“The priority is to give it to every unit in theater or going into theater, so that they will have encryption,” said Gonzalez. “The whole process will take a year, and within a year, several units will have encryption.”
Air Force officers and defense analysts caution that video broadcasts from manned aircraft to U.S. ground troops are vulnerable to hacking as well because they have technology similar to that of UAVs.
The Air Force has known for more than a decade that the live video feeds from its unmanned aerial vehicles can be intercepted by the enemy but opted not to do anything about it until this year. An official document puts a completion date to secure the feeds at 2014.
The Air Force first flew the RQ-1 Predator, the MQ-1’s predecessor, in combat over Bosnia. In published reports, local residents with satellite television told of watching Predator video feeds on their televisions.
Defense analyst Peter Singer, author of “Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century,” said, “I remember that some of the people there said it was harder to get the Disney Channel than watch U.S. military operations.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/a ... k_122009w/
By Michael Hoffman, John Reed and Joe Gould - Staff writers
Posted : Monday Dec 21, 2009 7:30:25 EST
The Army is scrambling to protect the live video feeds from its unmanned aerial vehicles from being intercepted by the enemy. Raven drones will be retrofitted with encryption technology as early as this month.
Defense officials confirmed Dec. 17 that Iraqi insurgents have been capturing the nonsecure, line-of-sight communications signals from Army and Air Force drones since mid-2008.
Army officials acknowledged that the service has fielded hundreds of drones without the ability to encrypt the signals that ground forces rely upon for intelligence and surveillance of insurgent hideouts or roadside-bomb hot spots.
However, the Army will retrofit the handheld Raven and other UAVs over “at least two years,” targeting currently deployed systems first, said Col. Gregory Gonzalez, the Army’s project manager for unmanned aerial vehicles.
For the Shadow, Hunter, Warrior Alpha and the Extended-Range Multipurpose UAV, the Army will retrofit all systems with encryption, as funding permits, said Gonzalez.
“This is not the first time that we have heard about the potential threat against full motion video. The threats are ongoing, and the Department of Defense has taken some risk,” said Gonzalez. “We received specific direction from the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the last year to fix the problem.”
A report published in the Dec. 17 edition of The Wall Street Journal detailed how defense officials earlier this year discovered laptops in Iraq loaded with a $26 Russian-made software program called SkyGrabber that hacked into video broadcast by Predator cameras, which show the location of insurgents being targeted by the drones.
Besides the SkyGrabber software, insurgents have used high-tech methods to capture the video feeds.
U.S. troops found advanced electronic warfare equipment in a 2008 raid on Shiite militia, according to an Air Force intelligence officer briefed on the raid.
Army officials acknowledged the interceptions, and the Pentagon issued a general statement on the security of its intelligence gathering.
“The Department of Defense constantly evaluates and seeks to improve the performance and security of our various ISR systems and platforms. As we identify shortfalls, we correct them as part of a continuous process of seeking to improve capabilities and security,” the statement said.
One Air Force official contends the insurgents’ ability to watch drone feeds has adversely affected U.S. operations in the Middle East.
“We noticed a trend when going after these guys; that sometimes they seemed to have better early warning” of U.S. actions, said the officer briefed on the raid. “We went and did a raid on one of their safe houses and found all of this equipment that was highly technical, highly sophisticated. It was more sophisticated than any other equipment we’d seen Iraqi insurgents use.”
The militia, known as Kata’ib Hezbollah based out of Sadr City, Baghdad, has long been suspected of being a surrogate for Iran’s Quds Force, the wing of the Iranian Army responsible for conducting clandestine warfare outside of Iran via various insurgent groups.
“It was the technological know-how to make the antennas, computers and software go together and pick up the appropriate bands that was impressive,” the officer said.
Soon after the raid, top commanders in Iraq convened a task force to identify the extent of the threat and how best to deal with it, according to the officer. Initial findings showed the threat was isolated to Kata’ib Hezbollah.
“They knew that we were flying Predators over their heads 24/7, so it’s easy to say, ‘yeah, I know that I’m going to do a signals analysis search for [the drone] and take advantage of it,” the officer said.
The laptops loaded with the SkyGrabber software also had footage filmed by smaller Army UAVs as well as the Predators.
“We are well aware, and [Office of the Secretary of Defense] is well aware, and we have a well-researched response set in motion,” said Col. Robert Sova, the Army’s capability manager for unmanned aerial systems. “This ability, this is not new information.”
Ground units get the Predator feeds through a Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, or ROVER, — a mobile device that looks like a laptop that can either be carried by hand or mounted in a ground vehicle.
An encryption package can be added to the ROVER; however, not all troops have the encryption package. The latest ROVER model being tested by the Pentagon comes equipped with two advanced encryption packages.
The military has not implemented encryption for drones for “various reasons,” according to Sova.
But, Sova said, the ability to hack a drone’s video feed is a “very low risk” since the insurgents haven’t figured how to hack into the command and control systems of the drones.
“It’s not like they’re going to control the payload or move it off,” Sova said. “They’re able to see a specific interval, like a camera system in the mall.”
Sova considers it unlikely that an insurgent could tap into a specific drone overhead.
“It’s happenstance, if they were able to tap into that feed,” Sova said. “Only in the best scenario, and only for a short period of time.”
The Defense Department’s Office of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics directed the services to beef up encryption. Prior to his departure last year, Pentagon acquisitions czar John Young oversaw such a push, across all services, according to Gonzalez.
“Since these systems were first introduced, we’ve known [the risks of unencrypted video feeds],” Gonzalez said. “Your average off-the-street person isn’t able to get these feeds, but with enough effort you can. The risk to the Department of Defense seemed low. Now, for whatever reason, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has decided to reduce that risk.”
According to Gonzalez, by the first of the year, the Army will field encryption-capable Ravens, and other UAV systems will follow over the coming months and years.
“The priority is to give it to every unit in theater or going into theater, so that they will have encryption,” said Gonzalez. “The whole process will take a year, and within a year, several units will have encryption.”
Air Force officers and defense analysts caution that video broadcasts from manned aircraft to U.S. ground troops are vulnerable to hacking as well because they have technology similar to that of UAVs.
The Air Force has known for more than a decade that the live video feeds from its unmanned aerial vehicles can be intercepted by the enemy but opted not to do anything about it until this year. An official document puts a completion date to secure the feeds at 2014.
The Air Force first flew the RQ-1 Predator, the MQ-1’s predecessor, in combat over Bosnia. In published reports, local residents with satellite television told of watching Predator video feeds on their televisions.
Defense analyst Peter Singer, author of “Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century,” said, “I remember that some of the people there said it was harder to get the Disney Channel than watch U.S. military operations.”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/a ... k_122009w/
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He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in Darkness, and Light dwells with him.