Information Security Management Handbook, Volume 6, 6th Edition

Chapter 21

Pirating the Ultimate Killer App: Hacking Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Sean P. McBride

Introduction

In late 2008, a U.S. Army commander in Iraq planned and ordered a combat operation based off intelligence that suggested the possible location of a known Shiite militant.¹ To the assigned combat patrol, this action was a seemingly typical combat operation. As on most other days, the soldiers planned and rehearsed how they would storm the target location based on maps and digital imagery intercepted from Predator drones. The patrol traveled ...