Introduction to Cyber-Warfare - Proiect SEMPER FIDELIS

HACKING THE PREDATOR FEED187FIGURE 10.1 The Predator RQ-1 takes off at Balad Air Base, Iraq in September 2004 supporting Operation IraqiFreedom. Photograph from DARPA, www.darpa.mil.Affairs” and further development followed. The aircraft was modified with a longer fuselageand a greater wingspan and became the Predator—which first flew in July 1994 (Figure 10.1). 3The Predator was first employed for combat by the U.S. Air Force in support of OperationNomad Vigil in late 1995 with flights over Albania. This was followed by the support combatoperation in the Balkans for the remainder of the 1990s. 4 All the early missions of the Predatorwere reconnaissance; however, over time the UAV evolved into a targeting tool. After spottingan enemy target in the Balkans, the Predator could use its laser to mark the target in orderfor another aerial platform—such as an F-16 fighter—to launch munitions. Hence, weaponizingthe Predator so it could attack targets appeared as a natural progression for the aircraft.By mid-2001, the U.S. Air Force began test-firing Hellfire missiles from the Predator. After theterrorist attacks on 9/11, the armed Predators were employed in Afghanistan to conduct kineticoperations. By 2008, the Predators were logging a total of 10,000 flight hours per monthin Iraq and Afghanistan. 5 HACKING THE PREDATOR FEEDIn late 2008, U.S. military personnel operating in Iraq arrested a Shi’ite militant in whosepossession a laptop was found that contained video footage of Predator feeds. 6 In July 2009,further finds of insurgent laptops with recorded Predator feeds followed. At the time, it waswidely suspected that many of the Shi’ite militant groups operating in Iraq were being fundedand trained in Iran—which led some officials to conclude that the ability to acquire such videofeeds had become standard practice by then. One group in particular, the Kata’ib Hezbollahoperating out of Sadr City, which was known to have been supported by Iran at the time, wasalso found to be in possession of feeds and the necessary equipment to obtain them. 7 Further,reports of Predator intercepts in Afghanistan also surfaced. The story was first reported in thenews media by the Wall Street Journal, initiating a media fire-storm. In this section, we describe