Virus infects US drones?, A stubborn computer virus has found its way into the Nevada control stations used to remotely pilot US military drone aircraft on missions over war zone.
While the virus has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in southern Nevada's Clark County from conducting missions, it has resisted attempts by security specialists to remove it from Creech's computers, nearly two weeks after it was first detected. Most US drone missions are flown by Air Force pilots from Creech. predator reaper drones,

"We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back," a source told Wired. +keylogger virus,

A senior Air Force source with knowledge of the drone program told FOX News Channel that the virus "is not affecting operations in any way -- the protective system worked."

The source added that virus "showed up on a Microsoft based Windows system. We have a closed looped system and heavily protected cockpits - the planes were never in jeopardy." wired US drones virus remove,

The virus was introduced when the Air Force was transferring data maps using external hard drives between two systems, the source said. It was quarantined early on.

The virus has infected both classified and unclassified machines at the base, but no classified information has been confirmed lost or transmitted to outside sources, according to Wired. creech air force base nevada,

The security specialists are working to determine whether the virus was introduced to the system intentionally or by accident and how far it has spread. US drones computer virus,

The US uses the unmanned aircraft to conduct surveillance and carry out strikes on enemy targets. According to The Washington Post, since President Barack Obama took office, approximately 30 CIA drones have attacked targets in Pakistan 230 times and killed more than 2,000 suspected militants and civilians. The Air Force uses more than 150 drones over Afghanistan and Iraq, while drones struck 92 times in Libya between mid-April and late August.

A CIA-directed drone strike killed American-born terror mastermind Anwar al Awlaki in Yemen on Sept. 30.

Drones have been hit by a security threat before. In 2009, US forces uncovered drone footage on laptops of Iraqi insurgents, who used a $26 piece of software to steal the video, Wired reported. US drones computer virus,

Source: nypost