wayman
Engineer
Even secure keys aren't secure forever.Those drones aren't using an encrypted signal. This is blown way out of proportion.Considering that I just saw a news report that AlQuida had brought a $12 electronic part that allowed them to tap into the video feeds for our survailence drones that are tracking them, I'd say that there would be a very strong possibility of what you suggest happening GML.
"The naive reaction is to ridicule the military. Encryption is so easy that HDTVs do it -- just a software routine and you're done -- and the Pentagon has known about this flaw since Bosnia in the 1990s. But encrypting the data is the easiest part; key management is the hard part. Each UAV needs to share a key with the ground station. These keys have to be produced, guarded, transported, used and then destroyed. And the equipment, both the Predators and the ground terminals, needs to be classified and controlled, and all the users need security clearance..."
See this site for more.
GSM phone encryption was cracked yesterday by one guy who broke no laws, but just spent a while gathering data legally and using publicly available software and hardware. (Basically, he demonstrated that phone calls where one party is using AT&T Wireless or TMobile in the USA, or Rogers in Canada, or any cell phone in most of the rest of the world, can be eavesdropped. Easily, once you know how. Fortunately for us, the guy who figured this out was a "good guy" rather than a "bad guy". Of course, that's assuming he's the first to figure it out. For all we know, other people have been doing this before....)
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