Malware Hits U.S. Military Drone Fleet

From a report by Noah Shachtman, Wired, October 7, 2011


"A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other war zones.

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.

“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 key logger, and then transmitted over the public internet to someone outside the military chain of command."


TRMG observes that this report, if accurate, highlights the Achilles heel of robotics, both military and civilian - communications network interdiction and infection.  With the Pentagon reportedly setting targets to have robotic vehicles undertake 25% of missions within 20 years, the issue of cyber security and the entanglement of public and private infrastructure will become ever more critical.


Today's key logging infection is a precursor to tomorrow's potential Stuxnet attack.

Malware Attacks via Social Media are on the Rise

08 October 2011

Malware Attacks via Social Media are on the Rise

An international survey conducted by Websense claims that a significant increase in Malware attacks is being driven by rising social media usage.

Some key findings of the report are that:

• The rapid spread of social media may have caught many organizations off guard. 63 percent agree that employee use of social media puts their organizations’ security at risk. In contrast, only 29 percent say that they have the necessary security controls — such as secure web gateways — in place to mitigate or reduce the risk posed by social media. 
• Malware attacks have increased because of social media usage, and it’s growing. 52 percent of organizations experienced an increase in malware attacks as a direct result of employee use of social media, and 27 percent say that these attacks recently increased more than 51 percent. 
• The United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, and Singapore report the highest increases.
• Even if they have a policy that addresses the acceptable use of social media in the workplace, 65 percent say that their organizations do not enforce it or they are unsure.
• The top three reasons for not enforcing these policies are: lack of governance and oversight (44 percent); other security issues are a priority (43 percent); and insufficient resources to monitor policy compliance (41 percent). 
• Organizations believe that IT bandwidth has been diminished as a result of social media use. The top two negative consequences of an increase in social media use were diminished productivity (89 percent) and reduced IT bandwidth (77 percent), which increase costs. 
• Just under half (47 percent) believe exposure to inappropriate content is another negative consequence. 
• 60 percent of employees use social media for at least 30 minutes per day for personal reasons. 
• The United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Mexico have the highest use of social media for non-business reasons. 
• Organizations in Germany have the highest use of social media for business purposes. 
• Regional variations are often compounded by higher local bandwidth costs, which shifts the priority of this concern throughout the globe. 
• Countries most likely to see social media as important to meeting business objectives are the United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong, India, and Mexico. 
• The countries with organizations that are less likely to see the importance of social media are: Australia, Brazil, and Italy. 
• Countries most likely to see social media as a serious threat to their organizations are Canada, Hong Kong, and Mexico. 
• Countries least likely to see social media as a threat are France and Italy. 
• Organizations in Germany have the most confidence in their ability to address the social media threats.

TRMG recommends that all organisations and individuals regularly review their social media policies and codes of practice, with particular attention being paid to the balance between social media needs and social media risks.