Aerial Threat: Why Drone Hacking could be Bad News for the Military
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly called drones, are now a fundamental part of defence force capability, from intelligence gathering to unmanned engagement in military operations. But what happens if our own technology is turned against us?
Between 2015 and 2022, the global commercial drone market is expected to grow from A$5.95 billion to A$7.47 billion.
[...] UK cybersecurity consultant James Dale warned earlier this year that "equipment is now available to hack drones so they can bypass technology controls".
Drones are relatively cheap technologies for military use-certainly cheaper than the use of satellites for surveillance. Off-the-shelf drones can be used to gather intelligence, without any significant development effort.
[...] Russian software company Coptersafe sells such modifications for a few hundred dollars. Anyone can buy a drone from a retail store, purchase the modifications, and then send their drone into no-fly zones such as military bases and airports. Ironically, Russia's military base in Syria came under attack from drones last year.
Australia is at the frontier of the military drone revolution, equipping itself with a fleet of hundreds of new drones. Lieutenant Colonel Keirin Joyce, discussing the program in a recent defence podcast, declared Australia will soon be "the most unmanned [air vehicle] army in the world per capita".
It will be essential to safeguard every single component of this sophisticated unmanned aerial fleet from cyber attack.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.