UPDATE: Lost Drone or Trojan Horse?

So if you've been keeping tabs on the lost UAV in Iranian hands, you've probably read recently the Iranian claims that they brought the bird down with "electronic warfare".  Many experts have pondered on what techniques could have been used to bring down a "stealth" drone.  A popular theory has consistently been that the Iranians have spoofed the Global Positioning Satellite link between the UAV and its base and used that technology to "guide" the aircraft to their base in Iran.    It's even supported by a report done by the US Air Force on UAV vulnerabilities.  In a nutshell, the Iranians and these experts are claiming the Iranians tricked the UAV into believing the Iranians were the American base in Afghanistan in which it was supposed to be landing at.  What would this entail?  One theory I came across, via a comment on Bruce Schneier's original article on the lost UAV, was the Iranians could have used a mixture of high-gain antennas, a microwave link, and two aircraft following at the same speed as the UAV.

I have some issues with this theory from an intelligence standpoint, as it supposes a lot about the Iranians and their capabilities.

1. It would lead you to believe the Iranians have a need to bring down a drone which is simply taking pictures that any high-resolution satellite could pick up albeit not in real-time.  The Iranians have known for quite some time that we've been using our technology to spy on them and what areas we would be "curious" about.  Heck, any fourth grade student whose ever played Call of Duty knows that as well.
2. Second, it presumes the Iranians have the intelligence to know when exactly a UAV is flying and over which area.  Where would they get this type of information?  We have captured ZERO moles inside our government who would/could link sensitive drone technology/intelligence to Iran.  They would require an immense amount of verifiable data for such a project to be undertaken undetected and implemented almost flawlessly such as flight patterns (remember this is a "stealth" aircraft SEVERAL years in the making), satellite data which no other foreign government has used as of yet, real-time drone locations, and types of drones being flown.  Keep in mind the Beast of Khandahar wasn't "discovered" until 2009 at a base in Afghanistan. 
3. Third, that it would have the time to detect and dispatch the necessary equipment to those areas.  Even if it had the intelligence necessary, it has little in the ways of "stealth" technology to test this against let alone test it without raising eyebrows in Washington or Tel Aviv. 
4. Lastly, the Iranians never once thought to employ or use this in their campaign against the United States in Iran.  Seriously, why is this the first time the Iranians have showcased such a bird?  This presumes this is the first "stealth" UAV to fly over Iranian territory.  Surely, if they were as good as some pundits would have you believe, where are the other "stealth" drones?  I know - Iran, now claims to have seven other US drones.  What we know for a FACT is they have one verifiable drone in their custody.  How hard would it be to recreate a mock-up and say they "captured" the others?  Why now has the President requested just this one particular drone?  Because they only had this one and he already got what he wanted when it crashed.
5. Just because something is possible does not make it plausible.  It is possible I could one day become the CEO of Microsoft, but given my lack of experience as the CEO of a major corporation, it is not plausible.  The same can be said of the Iranians.  They are great at many things.  And are a very good adversary.  However, this is a country that had a 7 year war with a country that took us a few months to overrun (barring the pseudo-quagmire that later ensued with the help of our Iranian "friends").  Having such technology could be useful, in many arenas and operational theaters for Iran, yet it only provides "fruit" for them now?

If I were in the business of punditry and consulting for major media networks, I would stick to the "massive intelligence failure" story.  However, I'm just a guy with a blog so I'll stick with what's plausible and wonder how a multi-million dollar "stealth" aircraft flown by the largest intelligence apparatus has a "mechanical failure" over an enemy's territory whose nuclear development program was brought to its knees by a computer virus invented probably by the aforementioned intelligence agency.

Lost UAV or Trojan Horse?

I'm sure you've read all the hoopla about the Iranians capturing a U.S. spy drone.  The news media has asked just about every intelligence "expert" they have on their rosters.  Most have taken the bait and sensationalized the story almost beyond belief.  The other day I heard someone call it a "massive intelligence failure". Others have claimed the Iranians will reverse engineer  this aircraft (actually the Iranians said this) and use its "stealth" technology.  Some have even lauded the "success" of Iran's first unmanned bombing drone also supposedly equipped with "stealth" technology.  You would think these guys were Romulans.

HOT!!:: FREE ONLINE CRYPTO CLASS AT STANFORD

So when Ivy League schools give FREE classes in cryptography, I don't waste any time in signing up.  Looks like Stanford University is doing just that.

Here's some info direct from the FAQ section:

When does the class start?
The class will start in January 2012.

What is the format of the class?The class will consist of lecture videos, which are broken into small chunks, usually between eight and twelve minutes each. Some of these may contain integrated quiz questions. There will also be standalone quizzes that are not part of video lectures, and programming assignments. There will be approximately two hours worth of video content per week.

Will the text of the lectures be available?
We hope to transcribe the lectures into text to make them more accessible for those not fluent in English. Stay tuned.

Do I need to watch the lectures live?No. You can watch the lectures at your leisure.

Can online students ask questions and/or contact the professor?Yes, but not directly There is a Q&A forum in which students rank questions and answers, so that the most important questions and the best answers bubble to the top. Teaching staff will monitor these forums, so that important questions not answered by other students can be addressed. 

Will other Stanford resources be available to online students?No.

How much programming background is needed for the course?The course includes programming assignments and some programming background will be helpful. However, we will hand out lots of starter code that will help students complete the assignments. We will also point to online resources that can help students find the necessary background.

What math background is needed for the course?
The course is mostly self contained, however some knowledge of discrete probability will be helpful. Thewikibooks article on discrete probability should give sufficient background.

How much does it cost to take the course?Nothing: it's free! 

Will I get university credit for taking this course?No.

The course is being taught by Professor Dan Boneh who heads the applied cryptography group at the Computer Science department at Stanford University. Professor Boneh's research focuses on applications of cryptography to computer security. His work includes cryptosystems with novel properties, web security, security for mobile devices, digital copyright protection, and cryptanalysis. He is the author of over a hundred publications in the field and a recipient of the Packard Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Award, and the RSA award in mathematics. Last year Dr. Boneh received the Ishii award for industry education innovation. Professor Boneh received his Ph.D from Princeton University and joined Stanford in 1997.

Here's another look at the link for the class:

http://www.crypto-class.org/

CONTEST!!! Decipher this and win....

Okay, so I've decided to do another contest.  Some people may be wondering what coded messages and ciphers have to do with security.  Quite simply, none of your secure electronic communications could get done without them.  Plus, who doesn't enjoy a little mental exercise particularly when there is money involved - a $25.00 Amazon.com gift card.  Come on, folks.  It's the holidays.  If you guess wrong, it costs you nothing.  Win and you can use it towards any purchase at Amazon like that book you've been dying to read on your Kindle.

Enough talk.  Here's the message.  Decode it and email the text to scrivenlking@gmail.com.  If you're the first person to solve it, I'll advertise your name as our only winner thus far and email you the gift card.  Easy peasy.  Here's a hint: It's a simple substitution cipher.

jdc9)c9)4ds)9sz21x)z2xs)z214s94!))ud25vx)-25)es4)4dc9)8ced4)q1x)zq1)stqcv)ts)q4)9z8c6s1vfc1e[etqcv!z2t)wc894@)-25)7cvv)es4)q)}+&)ecw4)zq8x)42)Gtq=21!z2t!))jdq1f9)w28)3vq-c1e!