Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from unmanned American drone aircraft, US media reports say. Shia fighters are said to have used off-the-shelf software programs such as SkyGrabber to capture the footage. The hacking was possible because the remotely flown planes have an unprotected communications link

Originally posted by 3vilscript
I recently went to the Wings Over Houston Airshow and saw a drone that said "City of Houston." Do you guys think the police use these or are these for the Texas ANG? (I have a pic I took maybe I'll post it later.) In any case, if the cops use these maybe hackers here state side, can hack into them.

The command and control channel is, and always has been, encrypted -- because that's both more important and easier to manage. UAVs are flown by airmen sitting at comfortable desks on U.S. military bases, where key management is simpler. But the video feed is different. It needs to be available to all sorts of people, of varying nationalities and security clearances, on a variety of field terminals, in a variety of geographical areas, in all sorts of conditions -- with everything constantly changing. Key management in this environment would be a nightmare.