Virus infects computers piloting U.S. drones

By Michael Winter - USA Today
Posted : Saturday Oct 8, 2011 14:20:45 EDT

A computer virus that logs keystrokes has infected computers used in Nevada to remotely pilot U.S. drones over Afghanistan and other war zones, Wired reports. As far as the Pentagon knows, no classified information has been lost or transmitted outside.

The keystroke logger was first detected nearly two weeks ago at Creech Air Force Base, where most Predator and Reaper drones are guided, and has stubbornly resisted removal, sources told Noah Shachtman, who writes the Danger Room blog.

“We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” one source said.” We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know.”

Shachtman writes that the infection “underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.”