Anonymous ID: ed2c38 Jan. 29, 2020, 3:14 p.m. No.7958498   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Basically we don't data obtained by drones flying over the USA to be scooped up by other countries (cough, China, cough).

 

Department of Interior Grounds Its Drones Amid Cybersecurity Concerns

(techcrunch.com)

 

The U.S. Department of the Interior has confirmed it has grounded its fleet of non-emergency drones amid concerns over cybersecurity. In a brief statement, the department said the move will help to ensure that "the technology used for these operations is such that it will not compromise our national security interests." Interior spokesperson Carol Danko said the department affirms with a formal order the "temporary cessation of non-emergency drones while we ensure that cybersecurity, technology and domestic production concerns are adequately addressed," months after the department said it was grounding its approximately 800 drones. But the drones will still be used for emergency purposes, such as search and rescue and assisting with natural disasters, the statement said.

 

The order did not specifically mention threats from China, but said that information collected during drone missions "has the potential to be valuable to foreign entities, organizations, and governments." Danko told TechCrunch that the department currently has 121 drones made by DJI and 665 drones that are Chinese-built but not made by DJI. She added that 24 drones are made in the U.S. but have Chinese components. "The review is to help us identify and assess any potential threats or risks," said Danko.

 

https://it.slashdot.org/story/20/01/29/2142241/department-of-interior-grounds-its-drones-amid-cybersecurity-concerns

Anonymous ID: ed2c38 Jan. 29, 2020, 3:31 p.m. No.7958631   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8647

7 Years Later, Emergency Alert Systems Still Unpatched, Vulnerable

The Security Ledger is reporting that more than 50 Emergency Alert System (EAS) devices made by Monroe Electronics (now Digital Alert Systems) are un-patched and accessible from the public Internet, seven years after security researchers alerted the public about security flaws in the devices. More than 50 EAS deployments across the United States still use a shared SSH key, a security vulnerability first discovered and reported by IOActive in 2013, according to a warning posted by the security researcher Shawn Merdinger on January 19, seven years after the initial vulnerability report was issued.

 

Security Ledger viewed the exposed web interfaces for Monroe/Digital Alerts Systems EAS hardware used by two FM broadcasters in Texas and an exposed EAS belonging to a broadband cable provider in North Carolina. Also publicly accessible: EAS systems for two stations (FM and AM) serving the Island of Hawaii. Residents there received a false EAS alert about an incoming ICBM in 2018. That incident was found to be the result of human error but prompted the FCC to issue new guidance about securing EAS systems. Digital Alert Systems said it is aware of the problem and is contacting the customers whose gear is exposed. However, a search using the Shodan search engine suggests that few have taken steps to remove their EAS systems from the public Internet in the past week. Security Ledger is withholding the names of the broadcasters whose EAS systems were exposed for security reasons. None of the stations contacted for the story was able to provide comment prior to publication.

 

re: Presidential Emergency Alert

 

https://securityledger.com/2020/01/seven-years-later-scores-of-eas-systems-sit-un-patched-vulnerable/