Quantum Systems, a German defense technology company, confirmed that it detected an incident in late October that formed part of an active cyberattack by hostile actors targeting its unmanned systems.
The company responded quickly, working with relevant authorities to resolve the issue and ensure its drones could safely resume operations. Quantum Systems builds reconnaissance and interceptor drones along with the QBase ground-control and mission-planning software used to operate them.
Its systems are in service with Germany’s military, and Germany recently announced funding to build tens of thousands of Quantum Systems interceptor drones in Ukraine. The firm believes it was targeted because of its support for Ukraine and is cooperating with state authorities on the investigation.
Update server compromised
According to Der Spiegel and the Financial Times, the compromise occurred via a malicious QBase update file delivered from the vendor’s update distribution server. The Vector reconnaissance drone, known as Falke in German military service, relies on QBase for mission planning.
The unscheduled update raised internal alarms, though it remains unclear how many customers installed it. German armed forces reportedly grounded Quantum Systems drones as a precaution and excluded them from a recent military exercise.
The response involved the military counterintelligence service (MAD), the domestic intelligence service (BfV), and the federal cybersecurity agency (BSI).
In July, Australian firm CubePilot, which also supports Ukraine, suffered a DNS hijacking attack that caused operational disruption and could have been used to deliver malicious updates.
