Iran hacked U.S. drone cyber system – former CIA officerDecember 17, 2011 - 10:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Commenting on Iran's recent downing of an aggressive U.S. drone, a former CIA agent says the Iranian Army's experts managed to hack the aircraft's cyber system and then brought it down, Press TV reports. “The downing of the drone by Iran was another defeat for the United States in the area of espionage,” Robert Baer, a former U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, who used to operate in the Middle East, was quoted by French-language Swiss newspaper 20 Minutes as saying. On December 4, the Iranian military's electronic warfare unit announced that Iran had downed with minimal damage the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel stealth reconnaissance aircraft, while it was in violation of the Iranian airspace. The aircraft, designed and developed by the American company Lockheed Martin, had crossed Iran's border with Afghanistan and was brought down as it was flying above the northeastern city of Kashmar. Baer also expressed concern about Iran's access to the sophisticated technology of the stealth aircraft, particularly the operational mechanism of its image-recording camera. Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the aerial vehicle, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. On December 6, two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the U.S. intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan. Tehran has urged the United Nations to condemn such contravention and adopt necessary measures to end the 'dangerous and illegal' acts. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |