Thread: Predator and Reaper drone controllers beset by computer virus

Apparently it's logging the operators' keystrokes. Multiple attempts at removing it have not yet succeeded.

Technolog - Military drones hit by computer virus?

Military drones hit by computer virus?

Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images

A US Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport on June 13, 2010.
By Suzanne Choney

The Predator and Reaper drones have been beset by a persistent computer virus, according to a report Friday. The virus is apparently logging the keystrokes of the pilots as they remotely fly over Afghanistan and other areas, although so far there are no indications any classified information has been leaked because of the virus, Wired's Danger Room reports:

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.

Wired's Noah Shachtman cites three sources regarding the virus, with one of them saying, "We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back ... We think it's benign. But we just don't know."

Msnbc.com has contacted the Air Force and the Department of Defense office responsible for the Host-Based Security System for comment.

The Air Force declined to comment to Wired about the issue.

"Insiders say that senior officers at Creech are being briefed daily on the virus," Shachtman said, citing a source who said the issue is "getting a lot of attention. ... But no one's panicking. Yet."