Two security researchers have designed a drone capable of sniffing WiFi networks, intercepting phone calls and launching DDoS attacks with jamming signals.
Dubbed WASP, or Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform, the aircraft cost some $6,000 and was built from various hobby materials, including a Styrofoam plane body, plastic propeller, foam tires, as well as standard circuit boards and wires.
WASP also boasts an IMSI catcher and antennae to spoof a GSM cell tower and intercept calls, along with a network-sniffing tool and 340 million word dictionary to brute-force network passwords.
Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins – who showcased the drone at Black Hat 2011 – said the WASP can be programmed with GPS coordinates and Google maps to fly a predetermined course. Nevertheless, the drone still requires a human controller to take off and land.
“It’s hard to keep something that’s flying from getting over your facility,” said Tassey. “[Because] in Starbucks, no one can hear your laptop scream.”
Both Tassey and Perkins work day jobs as security experts for the federal government. They say they designed the WASP to demonstrate just how cheap and it easy it is to intercept data transmissions.
[Via Wired & New York Times]
