What’s on TV in Iraq?

It turns out the video from Predator drones is a top-rated show among Iraqi insurgents. The drones use the same transmission technology as DirecTV, and because they are not equipped to handle encrypted signals insurgents can intercept their transmissions with a $30 Windows utility. And the Taliban appears to be doing the same thing in Afghanistan. According to CBS News:


The Air Force became aware of the security vulnerability when copies of Predator video feeds were discovered on a laptop belonging to a Shiite militant late last year, and again in July on other militants’ laptops, the Journal reported. The problem, though, is that the drones use proprietary technology created in the early 1990s, and adding encryption would be an expensive task.

[Thanks to David Klaus for the story.]

1 thought on “What’s on TV in Iraq?

  1. One of these days we’re going to find a properly stupid enemy and really kick his ass!

    As it is, I sometimes think that it’s the Taliban who’s found itself a really stupid enemy. Why didn’t somebody at the Pentagon realize that signals from UAV drones could be intercepted before some guy sitting on a matt in a mud hut did? Maybe they should find a few of those guys, and hire them to find a fix for the problem that only uses something off the shelf at WalMart for only $9.95?

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