Insurgents Use Skygrabber Software to Steal Drones’ Signals

Skygrabber, a satellite signal intercept program, has been used to access signals from U.S. drones in Iraq.
Insurgents Use Skygrabber Software to Steal Drones’ Signals
The MQ-9 B Reaper (shown here), and the MQ-1 Predator, are used widely for surveillance and attack missions by the CIA, Border Patrol and the U.S. military. (Gary Williams/Getty Images)
12/18/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/pred72301138.jpg" alt="The MQ-9 B Reaper (shown here), and the MQ-1 Predator, are used widely for surveillance and attack missions by the CIA, Border Patrol and the U.S. military. (Gary Williams/Getty Images)" title="The MQ-9 B Reaper (shown here), and the MQ-1 Predator, are used widely for surveillance and attack missions by the CIA, Border Patrol and the U.S. military. (Gary Williams/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1824626"/></a>
The MQ-9 B Reaper (shown here), and the MQ-1 Predator, are used widely for surveillance and attack missions by the CIA, Border Patrol and the U.S. military. (Gary Williams/Getty Images)
Skygrabber, a satellite information downloading program, is enjoying a spike in popularity due to recent news that it has been used to access information from unmanned U.S. military aircraft in Iraq.

Skygrabber is a low-priced computer program used to gain free data from satellite signals without using an Internet connection. There has been a recent concern that the militant opposition in Iraq may have used this technology to monitor information from U.S. Predator drones.

The U.S. Predator drones are much liked by the military, primarily because they are remote-controlled. With no direct threat to pilots’ lives in battle, and the use of remote signals to dictate their coordinates from afar, the drones have been used frequently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Allegedly, the Iraqi opposition has allegedly found a way to access live video feed from the drones with Skygrabber.

Military authorities found downloaded footage of drone’s signal, plus the Skygrabber software, on the laptop of a recently captured insurgent, setting off the latest round of discussion over how to protect the feeds. U.S. officials have stated that there is no solid evidence confirming a breach in military security and they have stated that they have taken recent actions to encrypt the remote signals. Many people are wondering why these videos from the drones were not protected by encryption in the first place.

Some media outlets report that the military knew that the drone feeds were vulnerable after their first deployment in the Bosnian/Serbian conflict, but the military was not concerned because, at that time, there was no easy way to intercept the drone feeds. With the advent of Skygrabber, anyone with a computer can tap into the drones’ signals.

This interception is merely passive; it is not possible to reprogram or take control of the drone with Skygrabber.

Skygrabber was created by the Russian company SkySoftware, which has yet to make an official statement on the use of its software by insurgents in Iraq or elswhere.