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Members of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron from Indian Springs, Nev., perform preflight checks on a Predator drone before a mission in November 2001.

Members of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron from Indian Springs, Nev., perform preflight checks on a Predator drone before a mission in November 2001. (Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

Members of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron from Indian Springs, Nev., perform preflight checks on a Predator drone before a mission in November 2001.

Members of the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron from Indian Springs, Nev., perform preflight checks on a Predator drone before a mission in November 2001. (Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone operated by the U.S. military.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone operated by the U.S. military. (Photo courtesy of the DOD)

A student pilot and sensor operator man the controls of a MQ-9 Reaper in a ground-based cockpit during a training mission flown from Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York.

A student pilot and sensor operator man the controls of a MQ-9 Reaper in a ground-based cockpit during a training mission flown from Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York. (Ricky Best/New York Air National Guard)

Two aviation instructors walk past a model of a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, July 12, 2012.

Two aviation instructors walk past a model of a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, July 12, 2012. (Glenn Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)

Mechanics work on the UAS or Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, at Camp Ripley in Little Falls, Minnesota, July 19, 2012.

Mechanics work on the UAS or Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, at Camp Ripley in Little Falls, Minnesota, July 19, 2012. (Glenn Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT)

The reconnaissance video streamed by U.S. military drones is still vulnerable to hacking, potentially allowing enemies to watch the valuable intelligence despite the military's prior knowledge of the security weakness, according to a report from Wired Magazine.

The vulnerability itself is four years old, when military officials found militants in Iraq had U.S. drone video on a laptop.

Some of the American Predator and Reaper drones have received security software updates, but over half are still broadcasting without encryption, according to the report.

The entire fleet of military drones-a favorite tool of the Obama administration-will not receive retrofitting until 2014, according to a source cited in the story.

The proliferation and use of drones across the globe remains a controversial topic, especially in places like Pakistan where deadly strikes are commonplace.

Earlier this month a Washington Post report explained how the CIA asked the White House for a significant expansion of their fleet of armed drones.

Source: Wired Magazine

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