https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/IoTWorldToday-mobile-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
Iot World Today
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Development
  • Security
ioti.com

Security


YouTube

Drone as a flamethrower

So Many Drones, So Many Risks

Few IoT devices offer as much potential for abuse.
  • Written by Brian Buntz
  • 21st February 2017

“Drones scare the crap out of me,” says Chase Cunningham, Ph.D., A10 Networks’ director of cyber operations in an interview at RSA. “If I were a bad guy, I would go get a whole bunch of drones in front of an aircraft when it is landing. Imagine if you had 10 or 20 drones sucked into a jet. That’s it. You’re done,” declares Cunningham, who is a former U.S. Navy chief cryptologic technician.

While something that horrific hasn’t happened yet, there have so many near-misses involving drones around the globe that the prospect of a severe drone-related accident seems likelier by the day.

Consider the following: The terrorist group ISIS is releasing propaganda footage flaunting its ability to use drones for both reconnaissance and destroying targets. Just last week, Interpol warned that terrorists could employ drones equipped with explosives to launch attacks on critical infrastructure. The Department of Homeland Security reached similar conclusions in 2015. Last month, an African airline reported that one of its planes had crashed into a drone while in flight. At London airports last year, there were 13 near-misses involving drones at airports. Ten of those incidents were deemed to pose a “serious risk of collision.” And then there are separate incidents of drones that have crashed near the White House and in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Two of the most memorable examples of weaponized drones come courtesy of Austin Haughwout in Connecticut. In 2015, Haughwout attached a 9-mm pistol to a drone and demonstrated in a YouTube video that he could fire it using remote control. Several weeks later, he posted a similar video with a drone attached to a flame thrower.

Note: IoT security is a key item on the agenda at Internet of Things World in Santa Clara this May. Sample the speakers, preview the agenda, claim your free expo pass or book your place at the conference for the world’s biggest IoT event now. 

Drones could also be used for data theft. The London security company Sensepoint has created software named Snoopy that can pluck data from mobile devices that may be nearby, including usernames and passwords for Amazon, PayPal, and Yahoo.

At present, many drones are easy targets for hackers. “They run on regular old RF transmission,” Cunningham says. “What is to stop someone from taking them over?” Ars Technica’s security editor Dan Goodin recently posted a video of a system known as “Icarus” that can control drones or anything else using the common DSMx remote control protocol. The device enables an intruder to take control over a drone, locking out the original pilot.

But a hacker wouldn’t have to take control over command and control of a drone to cause problems. “You could just jam the frequency so that no one is controlling it. If you have enough drones in the airspace, surely someone is going to run into it,” Cunningham says.

More Drone Applications, More Regulations?

To be fair, drones offer an array of benefits in various fields. Potential applications include delivering medical supplies, law enforcement surveillance, inspecting farms and construction sites from the air, and so forth.

But drones also raise thorny legal questions and serve as a reminder that the evolution of drone technology is moving much faster than regulation. Consider, for instance, the aforementioned case of Austin Haughwout, the drone enthusiast who prompted a federal investigation by attaching a gun and later a flamethrower to a drone. The FAA sent Haughwout and his father an administrative subpoena seeking records related to the stunts. The elder Haughwout declined to comply, arguing that FAA had no authority over model aircraft.

On the international stage, the amount of regulation and restrictions to drones is growing steadily. Iran recently banned private drones in Tehran. In August of last year, FAA introduced rules constraining how drone pilots use the technology. Further FAA rulemaking, however, could be slowed given Trump's recent executive order designed to reduce regulations.

There’s also the simple fact that public doesn’t seem to be overly concerned about drones at present. “From a pure probability standpoint, much of the public doesn’t appear to care about drones right now. They are likely to think: ‘I am more likely to get hit by a car than crossing the street than injured by a drone,” says Morey Haber, VP of Technology for BeyondTrust. “When nobody cares, how do the people who manufacture drones even justify fixing any security problems?” says Morey Haber. “I would suggest that this is still an academic conversation.”

At a federal level, regulating drones is complicated given the degree of overlapping jurisdiction between regulatory agencies such as the NTIA and FAA.

“One could argue that drones are, in effect, IoT devices and that their security needs to be addressed,” says Craig Spiezle, executive director and president of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), which has participated in both the NTIA and White House efforts regarding drone policy. OTA has developed an IoT Trust Framework with security and privacy principles to provides prescriptive guidance to help drone makers and developers. The OTA has found in its own research that the vast majority of IoT devices lack basic security assurances. “In the rush to market drone vendors often leave security and privacy out of the discussion,” Spiezle says.

The Cloud Security Alliance reached similar conclusions about drones, stating: “Many indicators still show vendors consider security as an added cost and prefer to offer more features over protection.”

Ultimately, drones represent substantially greater risks than consumer-oriented devices like a connected refrigerator or a smart watch. “Both the public and private sectors need to consider the unintended consequences of the use of these devices and perhaps most importantly what are the physical safety issues that may result from either intended or unintended use and abuse?” Spiezle asks. “As technology advances, so will the risks. Prudent wisdom is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

Tags: Article Security Technologies

Related Content


  • Caltech campus
    Robots Could Gain Sense of Touch, With New Artificial Skin
    New design can help businesses determine the presence of hazardous materials, offer greater safety for workers
  • Clearview AI Fined $9.4M Over Facial Data Scraping
    The company was ordered to delete any data it held on U.K. citizens.
  • Microsoft Ramping up Cybersecurity Service Offerings
    Three new managed services will boost the company’s presence in the security space
  • IoT Product Roundup
    IoT Product Roundup: PTC, Nokia, Arm and More
    All the latest Internet of Things products

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your IoT World Today account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest News

  • Microsoft Extends Secured-Core Program to IoT Devices
  • Spot the Robot Dog Helps Police Ahead of Boston’s Fourth of July Celebration
  • Unmanned Robotic Combat Vehicle Being Tested
  • Image shows a Close up of lens on black background
    Carnegie Mellon Researchers Invent System to Find Hidden Cameras

Roundups

View all

IoT Product Roundup: Canonical, InfluxData, Wiliot and More

23rd June 2022

IoT Product Roundup: Cisco, Telit, Draganfly and More

9th June 2022

IoT Deals, Partnerships Roundup: Google, Arm, Senet and More

26th May 2022

White Papers

View all

The Role of Manufacturing Technology in Continuous Improvement Ebook

6th April 2022

IIoT Platform Trends for Manufacturing in 2022

6th April 2022

Latest Videos

View all
Image Shows John Lewis' Barry Panai at AI Summit London 2022

AI Summit 2022: John Lewis’ Barry Panayi on AI in Retail

Panayi talks about data and AI in retail and how individuals and the technology can work together

AI Summit 2022: easyJet’s Ben Dias on AI in Aerospace

The company’s director of data science and analytics talks about the industry’s use of AI.

E-books

View all

How Remote Access Helps Enterprises Improve IT Service and Employee Satisfaction

12th January 2022

An Integrated Approach to IoT Security

6th November 2020

Webinars

View all

Rethinking the Database in the IoT Era

18th May 2022

Jumpstarting Industrial IoT solutions with an edge data management platform

12th May 2022

AI led Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: Time is NOW

9th December 2021

Special Reports

View all

Omdia’s Smart Home Market Dynamics Report

7th January 2022

Cybersecurity Protection Increasingly Depends on Machine Learning

28th October 2020

IoT Security Best Practices for Industry and Enterprise

20th October 2020

Twitter

IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Seoul Robotics Expands 3D Perception Platform across South America dlvr.it/STMhSV https://t.co/a10l3Eb2Kn

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Microsoft Extends Secured-Core Program to IoT Devices dlvr.it/STMg4k https://t.co/laBPF5VjC4

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Spot the Robot Dog Helps Police Ahead of Boston’s Fourth of July Celebration dlvr.it/STKWjb https://t.co/LdRg7a2xqU

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Another 59,000 @Teslas being recalled over a software glitch affecting the vehicle’s Emergency Call safety system… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Join us in the premier #tech destination of #Austin this November 2-3 for our next #IoT event. Connect and collabo… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

SoftBank, May Mobility Team on Autonomous Driving dlvr.it/STJrW0 https://t.co/mOYoBsgs14

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Firefly-Inspired Robots Enable Motion Tracking, Communication dlvr.it/STJn0H https://t.co/ksRSzYcR4z

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Partnership to Globally Expand Robotics Solutions dlvr.it/STJlyx https://t.co/YWAtpUfcNd

4th July 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for IoT World Today newsletters: vertical industry coverage on Tuesdays and horizontal tech coverage on Thursdays.

Special Reports

Our Special Reports take an in-depth look at key topics within the IoT space. Download our latest reports.

Business Resources

Find the latest white papers and other resources from selected vendors.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IoT World Series
  • Channel Futures
  • RISC-V
  • Dark Reading
  • ITPro Today
  • Web Hosting Talk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Login/Register

FOLLOW IoT World Today ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X