Drone Virus Caused By ‘Mafia Wars’?

The Air Force has released some details about the virus that has infected the country’s drone fleet:

The Air Force did provide a few details about the malware. They said it was first noticed on “a stand-alone mission support network using a Windows-based operating system.” And they called it “a credential stealer,” transmitted by portable hard drives. (Security specialists had previously identified it as a program that logged pilots’ keystrokes.) “Our tools and processes detect this type of malware as soon as it appears on the system, preventing further reach,” the Air Force added.

The malware “is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online,” noted the Associated Press, relying on the word of an anonymous defense official. That official did not explain why drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or similar games during their overseas missions.

Shouldn’t drone crews be playing Angry Birds?

H/T: Instapundit

FILED UNDER: Military Affairs, Science & Technology, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. It says that it steals the credentials of people who play those games. It doesn’t say they’re loaded from those games themselves. There’s a key difference there. Basically, it’s a keylogger that is set to look for specific lines of code.

  2. Herb says:

    Wow…..you’d think playing a live flesh and blood version of a video game would be enough.