Friday, July 6, 2012

The problem of Zombie drones

    One problem with drones is that they are capable of being controlled by someone other than the legitimate drone operator. These are sometimes called zombie drones. The technical term for such takeovers is called repossession.
   Repossession is a real threat. College students in Texas were able to repossess a government surveillance drone using equipment that cost little more than a thousand dollars. The technique used is called GPS spoofing. Spoofing involves mimicking the signals of the drone's global positioning device and by using a signal that is stronger than the commands of the drone operator taking over control of the drone. A terrorist could theoretically repossess a drone.
   There are also GPS jammers that can interfere with the signals sent to operate the drone. Some think that this was the method used by Iran to bring down a U.S, drone over Iran in December. Although it has also been suggested that Iran used the same spoofing techniques as the students mentioned above. Should terrorists gain control of drones sent to attack them they could end up attacking U.S. bases. For more see this article.

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European Central Bank reduces interest rate to record low

  The European Central Bank has cut its interest rate to .75 per cent a record low. This was in line with expectations as the Bank tries to stimulate the economy by lowering rates. The rate paid on money other banks place in the central bank overnight has been reduced from .25 per cent to zero!
  The Bank of England approved an injection of 78.1 billion U.S. into the UK economy. The bank kept the interest rate at .5 per cent. Up to now the Bank has injected 325 billion pounds into the economy through quantitative easing.
   The UK treasury is also providing a support program designed to allow banks to provide cheaper loans. China also has been taking measures to stimulate its economy as growth slows there. For more see this article.



US will bank Tik Tok unless it sells off its US operations

  US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a CNBC interview that the Trump administration has decided that the Chinese internet app ...