The loss of UAV drones due to hackinghas now become an inevitable fact of modern espionage and war operations, at a considerable cost. However, the big difference between unmanned drones and regular combat aircraft is quite large. For example, the MH-6 Little Bird, nicknamed Killer Egg, should not be vulnerable to hacker attacks, not only for their cost, but also for the heavy armament that the small combat helicopter carries.
This is why engineers at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) are working hard on the helicopter's electronic defenses against modern hacking, so that it does not get lost or get out of control.
NextGov reports that engineers are reprogramming the communications system on the ship's computer so that no one other than the authorized user can take control of both the ship and its weapons. DARPA is adding the same encryption that it has been putting on spy drones since last May.
Kathleen Fischer, former manager of the HACMS (High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems) project, explains that electronic systems are connected to a network to communicate with each other. The slightest vulnerability in one of these systems could allow someone to take control of the machines. The projectaims to eliminate security gaps and vulnerabilities that can be found in the systems, using a proprietary programming language, rather than the well-known C++, in which most military programs are written.
