by Nicholas Dilley

Created on: January 22, 2010

Konami Code Grants 30 Lives, Access to Air Force Drone

A Department of Defense website suffered a major setback Thursday evening when it was apparently hacked.  The site, www.predator-uav.gov, hosted an interactive program that allowed users to see how the Predator Unmanned Arial Vehicle is flown by ground units.  Users were able to fly a simulated mission using onscreen controls in part of a public relations outreach program by the nation’s military.  Two F-14 Tomcats were scrambled over the Mojave Desert Thursday evening when two of the Air Force drones unexpectedly launched and began an unscheduled flight.

From General Billings, “At 11:48 last night, an Unmanned Arial Vehicle unexpectedly launched from a tarmac at its home base, followed 3 minutes later by a second launch.  Air Force radar began tracking the drones within seconds, and two F-14s were scrambled to make visual contact.  There was no civilian danger as the pursuit was confined to an unpopulated area in the desert.  The escort plane pilots report witnessing the first drone perform several barrel roles, a loop-the-loop, and a Split-S before slamming into the side of a canyon wall at high speed.  The second plane simply cruised along at high altitude, then dropping like a stone from the sky, as if someone turned off the flight-control program.

DoD officials have confirmed that hackers were apparently able to control a live Predator UAV after discovering a backdoor programmed into the website.  While playing with the interactive controls, the unidentified users entered the famous Konami Code (↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A Enter)  into the player, gaining access to live flight controls for Air Force drones based in the Mojave.  The users, who reportedly believed they were still playing the interactive simulation, launched the two UAVs and began circling the base.  

The Konami Code was made famous for its inclusion in the NES game Contra.  The game is known for its difficulty, but entering the code during the start screen gave the player 30 lives at the onset of the game.  While certainly the most famous use of the code, it was not the original use.  The code was first used in video games in the Konami-developed Gradius, released in 1985, and has since been used in hacks on www.espn.com and www.facebook.com  among others.  Previous uses are believed to be; launch code for U.S.

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