Not So Shocking News: Drones Are Vulnerable to Hacking

Every time I read someone proclaim the era of human flown combat aircraft is coming to an end, I roll my eyes. It is highly reminiscent of the proclamation that guns were no longer needed on fighters back in the 1960’s. Go check YouTube for videos of strafing done to protect the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to see how false that was.

There are so many vulnerabilities to automated remote systems and guess what, our drones have already been hacked. This is far worse than having Iraqi dissidents intercepting unencrypted real time footage from drones. A keylogger records all the inputs and commands sent to the drones, which means somebody out there is figuring out how the actual control can be disrupted.

The most likely culprit is China, but it could be anyone in this overly wired age. But the most distressing part of this incident is the inability of the military to get rid of the trojan. That should be relatively easy unless the network itself is compromised.

I am no fan of moving warfare to drones for a variety of reasons. Taking out the human risk in warfare risks dehumanizing it to the point of playing a video game. Flexibility is not there in reacting to unforeseen situations, unlike with a human in the cockpit and on site. If we go up against an opponent with real air defenses, drones are very vulnerable to being shot down. Last, but the biggest, is the vulnerability to hacking.

It reminds me of the beginning of the most recent Battlestar Galactica series where the newest Viper fighters were disabled by a virus. Ah science fiction, you always tend to predict the future!