Pentagon plays down security breach with US drones

Pentagon officials on Thursday sought to play down security concerns over US drones after acknowledging Iraqi militants used cheap software to intercept video feeds from the unmanned aircraft.
"This is an old issue that's been addressed," a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters. The problem has been "taken care of," he said, without offering more details.
Officials confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that Iranian-backed Shiite insurgents had used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available online for 25.95 dollars (18 euros) -- to capture live video footage from the unmanned aircraft.
Some sensitive video feeds from drones are routinely encrypted, another defense official, who asked not to be named, told AFP. But the extent of the encryption remained unclear.
Even as officials insisted the problem had been rectified, a military technology blog reported the vulnerability extended to video transmissions for an array of other US aircraft -- both manned and unmanned.
Video footage from US drones, fighter jets and bombers is transmitted to receivers that use unencrypted signals, Wired magazine's Danger Room blog reported, citing unnamed Air Force officials.
The unprotected signal used by the receivers, or Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receivers (ROVERS), means outsiders could hack into a video feed or jam it, an official told the blog.
Thousands of the ROVER receivers have been distributed to troops and the military was working to fix the security breach, it said.
Last month at a conference of the Army Aviation Association of America, a military official said the current ROVER device "receives only unencrypted" satellite bands, according to a presentation posted online.
The reports exposed a possible weak link in the US military's growing use of unmanned vehicles and live video feeds, which are crucial for combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as CIA manhunts against Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan.
The Pentagon is deploying more armed and unarmed drones to Afghanistan to back up a surge of US forces there, and has placed a high priority on expanding and improving the fleet of unmanned aircraft.