On 26-Oct-12 1:30, Joseph Catron wrote:
As the pace of drone operations has intensified in Djibouti, Air
Force mechanics have reported mysterious incidents in which the
airborne robots went haywire.
In March 2011, a Predator parked at the camp started its engine
without any human direction, even though the ignition had been
turned off and the fuel lines closed. Technicians concluded that a
software bug had infected the "brains" of the drone, but never
pinpointed the problem.
The Terminators are some time off yet:
http://www.technewsdaily.com/8390-robots-assemble-military-challenge.html .
But at least the inmates running this asylum seem well-organized:
"Frog" was the alias chosen by a major assigned to the Joint
Special Operations Command. At Lemonnier, he belonged to a special
collection of Navy SEALs, Delta Force soldiers, Air Force
commandos and Marines known simply as "the task force" ...
Frog coordinated Predator hunts. He did not reveal his real name
to anyone without a need to know, not even the ground-crew
supervisors and operators and mechanics who cared for the
Predators. The only contact came when Frog or his friends
occasionally called from their compound to say it was time to
ready a drone for takeoff or to prepare for a landing ...
One secret that survived [a drone crash], however, was Frog's
identity. The official Air Force panel assigned to investigate the
Predator accident couldn't determine his real name, much less
track him down for questioning.
"Who is Frog?" one investigator demanded weeks later while
interrogating a ground crew member, according to a transcript.
"I'm sorry, I was just getting more explanation as to who Frog ---
is that a person? Or is that like a position?"
The crew member explained that Frog was a liaison officer from the
task force. "He's a Pred guy," he shrugged. "I actually don't know
his last name."
http://wapo.st/UKtpNO
One does wonder how difficult it would be to socially engineer these
guys. To pretend that you're someone that you're not. Drones have been
hacked, as well, and won't necessarily have to develop their own
glitches or sapience. This JSOC "Frog" will probably become a merc or
arms pusher after he's done in the military.
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
