SkyGrabber is just a piece of software which will help you to get satellite data even when you are not connected to Internet.
From its website:
SkyGrabber is offline satellite internet downloader. It intercepts satellite data( movie, music, pictures ) that downloadind by other users and saves information in your hard disk. So, you'll get new movie, best music and funny pictures for free.
You don't have to keep an online internet connection. Just customize your satellite dish to selected satellite provider and start grabbing. SkyGrabber has simple and attractive GUI, powerful filter system and flexible settings. If you want to have the newest software for free, SkyGrabber is your choice.
It sounds quite harmless, isn’t it? However, this apparently innocent software has caused a lot of storm in the media and among US military officials.
The Wall Street Journal has written a report about it: $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq
Here is the report of CBS News: U.S. was Warned of Predator Drone Hacking
I got confused by reading both the reports because how it is possible that a simple $26 software could bring out all the top secret information of US Military.
John Biggs of Crunch Gear has something interesting to say:
This suggests that the final link between the drone and the operator is between a satellite flying around in space and that that final link is unencrypted for reasons unfathomable to anyone with even cursory knowledge of network communications. Maybe they wanted to save on bandwidth costs?
And the winner of all the controversy is SkyGrabber. The software and the company have received huge amount of media attention and people are now searching about it in large number in search Engines.