Another Drone Goes Down Raising Speculation About Drone Virus From Sept.
- Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:13pm by
Liz Klimas
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For the second time in the last two weeks, another American military drone has gone down, adding to the questions of why and how.
(Photo: Le Sychellois via Facebook)
This second drone, which had been used to monitor piracy off the East African coast, crashed at an airport on the island nation of Seychelles during a routine patrol, officials said Tuesday. The first, an RQ-170 was downed led last week; Iranians claim to have shot it down, while the U.S. states it was not shot down. The Iranians have since revealed footage of captured drone and have refused the U.S. government’s request for its return, but state they will use it to make their own.
The U.S. Embassy in Mauritius said the unmanned U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper that crashed Tuesday was not armed and caused no injuries, although it did spark a fire that was quickly extinguished.
Lina Laurence of Seychelles’ civilian aviation authority said the drone developed engine problems minutes into its flight and needed to land as soon as possible.
“But due to its accelerated landing speed, the aircraft was unable to stop before the runway’s end,” Laurence said.
The statement issued says this second crash is being investigated, but there has been some speculation on the Internet as to whether the two drone crashes are related to an unknown computer virus reported to be infecting drones at Creech Air Force Base in September, a story which Wired’s Danger Room broke in October. Here’s what was said of the virus then:
“We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. “We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”
Military network security specialists aren’t sure whether the virus and its so-called “keylogger” payload were introduced intentionally or by accident; it may be a common piece of malware that just happened to make its way into these sensitive networks. The specialists don’t know exactly how far the virus has spread. But they’re sure that the infection has hit both classified and unclassified machines at Creech. That raises the possibility, at least, that secret data may have been captured by the keylogger, and then transmitted over the public internet to someone outside the military chain of command.
[...]
The Air Force declined to comment directly on the virus. “We generally do not discuss specific vulnerabilities, threats, or responses to our computer networks, since that helps people looking to exploit or attack our systems to refine their approach,” says Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, a spokesman for Air Combat Command, which oversees the drones and all other Air Force tactical aircraft. “We invest a lot in protecting and monitoring our systems to counter threats and ensure security, which includes a comprehensive response to viruses, worms, and other malware we discover.”
Now Business Insider and RT.com, among others, have questioned whether the virus and the downed drones are merely a coincidence. Business Insider notes that the drones the virus was likely to affect were Reapers or Predators, but the RQ-170s also fly out of Creech:
If the Iranians somehow breached the drone network and were able to reprogram the drone to make a gentle landing, in country, from 50,000 feet, it would be a military and engineering coup.
The RQ-170 doesn’t require an outside signal to fly or navigate, so the suggestion that the drones signal could have been jammed is not entirely likely.
At the time, the Air Force downplayed the computer virus and explained it was merely a “keystroke logger” meaning it could have captured passwords and usernames of users and planes in the network.
RT.com calls it “suspicious” that two drones were downed in such a short amount of time and throws out the possibility that it could be in retaliation for an alleged cyber attack on Iran last year:
Stuxnet, a 2010 computer warm that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, was suspected to be perpetrated by American intelligence agencies, much to their dismissal.
The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-to-high altitude unmanned aircraft system with sensors that can provide real-time data. The Seychelles-based MQ-9s, which are used to monitor piracy activities in and around the Indian Ocean, don’t carry weapons, though they have the capability to do so.
Tuesday‘s crash follows last week’s claim by Iran that it seized a drone identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel. Tehran said it was captured over the country’s east. The nearly intact drone was displayed on state TV and flaunted as a victory for Iran in a complicated intelligence and technological battle with the U.S.
Screenshot of Iranian footage showing drone.
U.S. officials said the unmanned aircraft malfunctioned and was not brought down by Iran. President Barack Obama said Monday the U.S. wants the top-secret aircraft back and has delivered a formal request for the return of the surveillance drone, though it isn’t hopeful that Iran will comply.
The U.S. has used drones to hunt down al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia and Yemen, among other countries. Their humming is a constant feature in the sky in many of the major towns in southern Somalia, especially the capital city and the militant-controlled southern port of Kismayo. It was not clear if drones operated out of the Seychelles are used for that purpose.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments (90)
brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:23pmShould it surprise anyonone since alot of electronics are outsourced to Malaysia,China,Taiwan, and on and on and on.Maybe there‘s going to be a built in plausible deniability when drones start flying against the public that it isn’t ours.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:35pmIf that interests you, then how about the prospect of 2/3 of the U.S population dying the first year after an EMP attack as talked about in this FOX video?
Report Post »http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/happening-now/index.html#/v/1325670918001/is-us-prepared-electromagnetic-pulse-attack/?playlist_id=86919?test=faces
RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:50pmThe Newt was right all along! The Newt/the Donald 2012! Pray for them and all other job creationists! Reagan 21:3 And the Job Creationists created the first entire class of Jobs, poor children. Thou shalt guide the lower class into the toilet stall and teach them to clean for the lowest wage. Poor parents will never have to worry about their child’s well being, because your children are now destined to a life doing God’s work, protecting the Job Creationists and the other children who are born as your child’s boss.
Report Post »brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:54pm@ELIASIM High tech was always a danger as the Gov’ts equipment is shielded against this EMP pulse whereas civilian electronics is not.Hence the advantage.This last generation fell prey to entitlement mentality and can’t even hand write a letter,card or anything that requires manual dexterity.They can’t even subtract or add when making change without electronics.I grew up pre tech and have been through many survival excersizes over the years ,so I’ll be able to survive and help others to.GoOd link as everyone should view.God bless.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:08pmRIGHT_LICE….it’s been stated that for satire to be effective it requires wit. You haven‘t displayed any but that’s understandable seeing as you’re witless. It also speaks volumes on the mind (I use that term very loosely in your case) that feels compelled to manufacture a screenname tailored to give the appearance of appeal to a conservative/christian audience- but clearly used in clumsy mockery of them- while posting the proliferation of mindless lefty drivel you’ve excreted here. Go back to your teachers and tell them they‘ve failed you as they’re turned you into the witless wonder you are today.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:15pmI‘m beginning to wonder about the military industrial complex’s capabilities at a fundamental level as an asset or a major risk to our national security.
It seems the holes or backdoor’ they have left in their hardware designs, engineering and software are significant. This places a GIANT risk on all of our SpecOps forces as well as the homeland.
Report Post »brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:17pm@ AVENGERK. Well said.A huge WTH is this one ranting about “intelligently”?
Report Post »brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:44pm@RULER4YOU Welcome to the reason.Seen this coming for a number of years.Pathetically at our expense.Used to be military were fodder,now you are so get yourself prepared and ever fail to shoot first and if you were a lousy shot ,ask questions later.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:56pmI, too, am concerned about the source of electronic componenets used in military hardware.
Report Post »brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:17pm@ CHUCK STEIN Really after 8 and a half years in the USAF, I had to think of what my Granfather said.For every thing the gov’t releases it is 20 years behind.Think about that. He was so right.Saw it first hand numerous times.
Report Post »philipzhao
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:49pmLike blaming the Jews, don’t blame China and Taiwan for things bad ! Things made in USA are not zero-defect either, except the Made-in-USA homegrown terrorists !!!!
Don’t buy iPhones and iPads as they are all made in China,Taiwan and Japan !!!!!
Report Post »fertlmind
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:13pmthat drone in the Whitehouse is a virus
Report Post »RossPoldark
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:52pmYes. Did you know that the US Air Force out sourced having some of its military planes,parts and equipment to Brazil, and they turned down a company in, I think it was Kansas, which would have employed 1400 people. We are being sabotaged by these foreign companies the idiot department of Defense is out sourcing to.
Report Post »2theADDLED
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 2:43amIt would not surprise me if it was a virus that downed the drones some of the best software
comes from other countries like China Russia and other countries.
Why are other countries so much more advanced in software then we are ?
By the way Barry is just leveling the playing field by giving up are drones he just wants
Report Post »everyone to have a equal chance.
poverty.sucks
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:10pmAnother attempt to manufacture a story.
Report Post »RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:43pmAgreed. We need to get back on the real story. Oblamer’s war on Christmas. Foreclose on his Rent-a-Center ‘white house’ and send him back to where it says he’s from on his birth certificate. Maybe in the future when we have become one with Jesus we will have time machines and we can sanction abortions in the past to stop great evil satanical/socialistic/god hating powers
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:59pmRIGHT_LICE…we need to “Febreze” The Blaze to remove your OWS odor.
Report Post »11:11
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:08pmyou can’t tell me that the military is not sophisticated enough that the iranians can access the technology and secrets, iranians are dangling this like a ha-ha, we got one on you, i can bet they can’t access any information from the drones, i mean,we are way smarter
Report Post »Vickie Dhaene
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:53pmDoes anyone remember the EBS test that our government did last month? Just curious I think “Huston We Have A Problem”
Report Post »GeneTracy
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:01pmOur “Predators”are becoming the prey.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:11pmI actually expected this. We’ve been very successful up to now with drones and it was only a matter of time before our enemies wised up to them. The Obama administration has castrated our intelligence community so old school spies on the ground are fewer in number. Gingrich has said a big reassesment is necessary in the way we wage war and gather intelligence…I would have to agree with him.
Report Post »RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:26pmAgreed. Obama should be doing time for Valerie Plame! BURN THE NAZI MUSLIM COMMUNIST! How could he just out CIA agents with no repercussions! And then Obama’s bank bailouts! STOP THE TRAITOR
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:58pmRIGHT_LICE…you need to wipe off that dried spittle forming at the corners of your mouth.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:54pm.
Another Drone Goes Down Raising Speculation………
I Posted this yesterday…….
Ya’ll I know this is off topic. But we moved and have lost our Christmas Tree Topper “Flying Santa”
I‘m tell’in ya‘ll it ain’t christmas without “Flying Santa” circling the tree top. If ya’ll find “Flying Santa” please return him to us, as Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas without “Flying Santa”. Even the dogs are depressed. “Flying Santa” is a National Treasure and must be found…….
I’m not sure, but I think Gonzo had something to do with this as “Flying Santa” came up missing after the SEC Championship game…..
But, Now after the missing Drones, I think the Iranians somehow breached my home security system and have Stolen “Flying Santa”………………
Report Post »brntout
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:07pmFunny, when In uniform ,we had a pilot with the the last name of Topper.His “nick”name was Tree topper.Could that be your Santa gone missing?
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:59pmDid he always come home with green stains on his air intakes?
Report Post »stinkycheese
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:54pmMust be from the cheap chinese electronics.
Report Post »RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:29pmFrom job creators for job creators. PROTECT ISRAEL WE NEED THE JOBS THEY PROVIDE (Every American is to serve the Lord’s homeland! Praise be upon the Reagan! Protect us from these invented peoples!)
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:12pmRIGHT_LICE…shouldn’t you be pooping in public with the other OWS cretins you associate with? Have they told you not to fling it at passersby? Did you need telling or did you get trained properly at the chimp compound you were kept in until recently?
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:53pmTrace the virus, put those responsible in jail – forever! No exceptions.
Report Post »neverending
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:51pmDowned drones, dead seals, outed cia agents,dead police, dead border agents, jailed border agents not to mention how many other military aircraft crashes seem to be a normal in the news since the start of this administration. How do we survive the remainder of obamas term? It certainly appears they are on full speed ahead mode.
Report Post »RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:31pmNo kidding! When will the anointed one do the time for Valerie Plame? This socialistic turd jazz cat is running out of lives!
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:48pmHURRAY!!
DOWN those US Citizen hunter-killers before they start killing Americans here at home!
Report Post »wordweaver
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:43pmSo, we commit this high-tech surveillance aircraft to fly over Iranian airspace and spy on whatever it can, and we lose control of it, they now have it, and the President is actually asking for it back? Really, Mr. President? Why must you seize every opportunity to appear weak on the world stage? This is not like accidentally kicking a ball over the fence into the neighbor’s yard. You can’t just apologize and ask for it back. You are engaged in a covert war with a nation who would do Israel and us harm, and we suffered the loss of a really nice piece of gear. Figure out what went wrong, fix it, and move on, but please don’t ring the doorbell with hat in hand and ask for your ball back.
Report Post »Southernsoul
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:40pmOne looked ‘crashed’ the other looked landed. Could the ‘crashed’ one be a cover up for the other?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:43pm“Crashed” probably means… landed in the water!
Report Post »paulusmaximus
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 6:10pmThe “crashed” one was going to fast to stop.The Iran one landed it looks intact complete with everything including the computer system.
Report Post »JohnnyAdams
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:38pmCan we stop talking about having unmanned drones fighting for us now? The first drone was taken over by Iran and flown to a landing. Manned aircraft cannot be taken over by a hostile…drones can, especially since we outsource all of our chips to China. This is madness.
Report Post »LINKSTER
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:37pmIran has our most sophisticated drone ( the RQ-170). What are we doing-no self destruct mechanism?
Report Post »We must have the ability to destroy this drone. Git er dun.
What is Iran going to do, go to the UN?
Let’s show them we still have a pair.
Thevoice
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:45pmWe should have hit that drone in two minutes after we lost it with a cruise missile and never said a word…I agree what the hell no self destruct.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:00pmMaybe we were hoping they’d take it to their most secret facility, a nuclear processing plant, for examnation, at which time, it would ‘do it’s thing’?
Report Post »Top_Down
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:36pmDid you see the video showing the Russian anti-Putin protests calling out UFO and pointing out something in the sky, what do you think it is ( http://url2it.com/klka )
This, I think, is hilarious.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 9:20pmYou can tell it’s MATEL, it’s swell.
Report Post »Obama Snake Oil Co
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:34pmDid Obama give the codes to his Iranian friends or to the Chinese? Are we going to give them the plans to build them for us in China?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:41pmWho do, should, you TRUST?
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:30pmaren’t the Seychelles where all those animalistic somali pirates are raiding boats and killing sailing people at?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:30pmBetween… Enemies without & Socialists within… and Congress attempting to pass a Bill that authorizes use of the Military against Citizens & suspends Habeas Corpus… I feel as secure as a Defenseless Child!
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:29pmobama giftwrapped that first drone for Iran, making sure he ”shared” our technology with them, as he promised them. he was probably fed up waiting for his NASA head to hand over all of our tech to the anti-American muslim nations faster.
Report Post »NHwinter
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:36pmI believe Obama wanted them to have the technology or we would have destroyed it some way or another.
Report Post »RIGHT_CHRIST
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:23pmIt‘s not ’giftwrapped‘ it’s ‘Christmas Gift Wrapped.‘ You need to stop forgetting Jesus in your materialistic ’holiday’ compromised with Newtish socialism. Reagan will forgive you and greet you in Heaven, “Welcome to Wal-Mart,” the senile Reagan said. A large grin attaches itself to your face, you have made it to Heaven! And in Heaven you can spend all of the trickle down money you have earned in life. GOD BLESS PROTECT ISRAEL AND THE JOB CREATIONISTS
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 8:03pmDidn‘t the Muslims ’invent’ the drone? Wasn’t there some NASA acknowledgement of their contributions to mathematics and aviation science? Heros of Islam or something like that? (Actually, when I was in the service, back in the late 60′s, the planes were full of Iranian Air Force officers coming over for training! And, I mean jam-packed! Here we are 50 years later and … .
Report Post »The Scarecrow
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:26pmAll this high tech technology and they don’t have a self destruct button on the remote control panel?
Report Post »Maybe we should just give all the third world countries a sample of our drones.
BurntHills
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:31pmobama just did, giftwrapped.
Report Post »Krutch
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:25pmLet’s see, China gets super computers during Clinton’s term. And also help getting into space, same Pres. And mbama stops watching the chinees spy activity. And we have yet to hear what info is being given to islam by NASA. But there is nothing to worry about, right? After all, if they have the same technology we have they won’t need to worry that the US will use it against them. Then they won’t try to start any war against the US.
Report Post »Amazing how stupid libs can be!
Rational Man
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:24pmSo I guess I should not be suprised if a drone crashes in my front yard?
Report Post »possom
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:22pmThe first one was one purpose, the second one was to remove suspicion.
Report Post »smackdown33
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:25pmExactly.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 5:29pmmakes sense
Report Post »nomark
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:22pmYea we are all up in arms over Iran getting the nuke, but we can’t secure our own defense IT department? We can’t keep from giving away our weapons? What about the Muslim brotherhood? What’s more of a threat to our security? The possibility that some bad guys might some day get a really bad weapon, or that we can’t seem to secure our own defense infrastructure and fly our own planes? What do you think America? Maybe we need to take care of home first and worry about bogeymen later?
Report Post »toomuchgovt
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:20pmDrone Virus? Don’t you mean Obama Virus of 2010?
Report Post »arty6164
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 7:00pmIf O is not replaced in 2012 we will all become drones.
Report Post »LIBS-ARE-DINGLEHEADS
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:18pmMust be from WalMart…..can we return it? Who has the receipt?
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 4:37pmWalMart gets most of their cheap stuff from China.
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