(Newswire.net — July 8, 2015) — The Patriot, a US-produced air and missile defense system which is stationed at the Turkey-Syria border belongs to the German military, but has been receiving orders from an unknown third party, Russia Today cited German media.
According to the report, German Bundeswehr armed forces based in Turkey reported that the systems, consisting of six launchers and two radar stations, reportedly carrying out “unexplained” orders. It is unclear though what exactly those orders were.
The Federal Department of Defense spokesperson, however, claims that there are no such reports, Die Welt newspaper reported. However, the magazine points out there could be two weak spots in the Patriots systems.
The first one is the Sensor-Shooter-Interoperability (SSI), which stands for the information exchange between the missile launcher and its control system. Another weakness could be in the computer chips, which are responsible for the guidance of the weapon.
The report emphasizes that the weapon could not be hacked outside the military grid because it is not on the Internet. However, the question remains how secure is the military network? According to computer security consultant and former UK-based computer hacker Robert Jonathan Schifreen, the “unexplained” commands from the hackers mentioned in the report, are “certainly worrying,” however could not possibly be anything of much significance.
“These systems are not linked to public networks, they require special codes to fire the missile, which only a certain number of people have, and you generally need the code from two or three people to fire it, or to do anything that is of significance,” Schifreen said.
The main risk, however, represents the software upgrades of the 30 year old Patriot operational systems that eventually could connect it on the Internet, according to security expert Billy Rios.
“It is a good question for commanders to be asking themselves: Hey, are our systems connected? Are they somehow connected to the Internet? Have we had any recent upgrades that made these things smart, like smart weapons, where they can transmit data to and from other places?” Rios asked.
Meanwhile a former MI5 agent and whistleblower, Annie Machon, suggested that the weapons are being controlled by the company that created them, referring to the Snowden’s report on the US spying on its allies.
“Who actually has their finger on the trigger? This is a basic problem for partners of the US. If they buy US software, if they buy US military hardware, do they really have control of it?” Machon wondered, adding that every serious country should have its own weapons.
Last month, Germany announced that they are replacing outdated Patriot missiles with a new Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), developed by the USA, Italy and Germany. The cost of replacing the system is estimated to a $4 billion dollars. It is unclear if any part of the system is connected to the Internet.