INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Detailed information about the innards of the Reaper drone were available
Sensitive documents about US military drones and manuals describing how to handle insurgents have been offered for sale on the dark
web.Cyber-security company Recorded Future said some of the data had been stolen from a US Air Force captain's computer.The cache includes
maintenance guides for MQ-9 Reaper drones and many training manuals for troops deployed outside the US
Police are now trying to track down the hacker who stole the files.They are acting on evidence gathered by Recorded Future, which said its
"engagement" with the hacker had helped it identify them and where they lived.The company's Andrei Barysevich also revealed the hacker had
many more documents available than just the few they were publicly offering for sale
The drone files were stolen via a well-known bug on a router the captain used
He had failed to update the device, leaving it open to a "hijack" attack that then gave outsiders access to the network it connected to
Ironically, the captain had completed a "cyber-awareness challenge" shortly before the documents were stolen
The other documents seemed to have been stolen from a separate source, said Mr Barysevich
They included tactics to defeat improvised explosive devices, an M1 Abrams tank manual and one covering ways to fight with tanks
The conversations with the hacker revealed that he had deep access to US military networks and often watched supposedly live footage shot by
drones on operations.None of the stolen information was classified but much of it was subject to strict US government controls designed to
limit who could read and use it.The price being asked for the documents has not been disclosed by Recorded Future.
