"The Sentinel has been in the arsenal of the US military since 2009 and the Pentagon has gone to great lengths to keep its exact capabilities under wraps, though those speaking under condition of anonymity to the Los Angeles Times have revealed that among its powers is the ability to intercept cell phone transmissions and sniff out toxic chemicals from miles above the Earth’s surface, all while remaining undetected.
"It's bad — they'll have everything,” one official added to the Times.
"It carries a variety of systems,” author Peter W. Singer tells the Times, “to its allies . . . it's a potential gold mine.”
Given the craft’s complex technology, the interception out of Iran allowed for authorities to down the drone in what appears to be perfect condition. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says such supports the claim by Iran that its forces electronically hijacked the plane brought it down without a crash.
Is the hacking of the drone’s complex system a possibility for Iran? Less than two months ago, RT reported that a key-logger virus was installed on the computers at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, infecting information in the cockpits of drones. The Air Force officials on the base were not made aware of the incident until an expose in Wired’s Danger Room revealed the details.
As it so happens, the Sentinel is dispatched out of the same base. If that virus from months back was in fact perpetrated by Tehran, the United States could be the victim of cyber warfare courtesy of Iran. Such an attack has been among the Pentagon’s worries for years now, and in May the DoD formally filed paperwork that says computer sabotage from another nation counts as an act of war. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal at the time, one unnamed military official was quoted as saying, “If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks.”"
"It's bad — they'll have everything,” one official added to the Times.
"It carries a variety of systems,” author Peter W. Singer tells the Times, “to its allies . . . it's a potential gold mine.”
Given the craft’s complex technology, the interception out of Iran allowed for authorities to down the drone in what appears to be perfect condition. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says such supports the claim by Iran that its forces electronically hijacked the plane brought it down without a crash.
Is the hacking of the drone’s complex system a possibility for Iran? Less than two months ago, RT reported that a key-logger virus was installed on the computers at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, infecting information in the cockpits of drones. The Air Force officials on the base were not made aware of the incident until an expose in Wired’s Danger Room revealed the details.
As it so happens, the Sentinel is dispatched out of the same base. If that virus from months back was in fact perpetrated by Tehran, the United States could be the victim of cyber warfare courtesy of Iran. Such an attack has been among the Pentagon’s worries for years now, and in May the DoD formally filed paperwork that says computer sabotage from another nation counts as an act of war. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal at the time, one unnamed military official was quoted as saying, “If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks.”"
