Friday, October 21, 2016

Drone hacking

Drones are becoming widely popular in society today, mainly to take cool aerial videos or pictures. Eventually these drones could deliver packages much faster than current delivery systems! The downside of these drones, however, is that people have begun to develop software that can hack into and take them over. Although this might not be a huge problem with just the drones that take fun pictures, these problems can be seen on a much larger scale.
Image result for drone pictures
The ability that some people have to hack into these drones is so concerning because by using an adaptation of the same software, they can hack into the large unmanned aerial vehicles used in the military.
Image result for unmanned aerial systems
So how do they do it? Essentially, these drones can be seen as flying computers so they can be hacked into just like any other computer can. The software used is a type of malware called Maldrone. Using this program, the hackers can acquire the data from the drone or take over physical control of the machine. The malware is programmed into other drones to fly around and hack into whatever drones it can find using GPS.

Another method to hack into and essentially disable drones is by messing with their GPS. They start by breaking the lines of communication with the drone and whoever is flying it. The drone will then switch to autopilot mode and look to GPS to find where to fly. By hacking into the computer on the drone and changing the coordinates of the destination, people can get these drones to fly wherever they want.
Image result for drone gps
example of a drone GPS controlled by an iPhone
The good thing is that people are aware of this hacking and are working to make drones less vulnerable to attack by changing the location of GPS receivers or changing the programming language completely. This is obviously a problem, so hopefully the security on these devices can be improved!
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http://techgadgetcentral.com/2015/10/11/top-5-drone-models-in-2015/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hack-drone.htm
http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2010/11/army_unmanned_aircraft_systems.html
http://www.droneexperienceid.com/drone/important-details-gps-drone.html

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2 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 21, 2016 at 3:41 PM

    I guess it could a vary cool task for hackers to do something like that. However, with the wide spread of drones everywhere this risks the privacy and safety of the individuals in danger.How do you think we can draw the line in situations like that ?

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  2. gregbischoffOctober 21, 2016 at 4:32 PM

    Imagine that -- a hacker stealing your Amazon order!

    I think this is a really interesting point! No one probably cared to maliciously take over RC planes of hobbyists, but now they're delivering goods, have cameras, are ridiculously expensive, or are even equipped with armament. They're becoming a prime target for hacking, and there is so much at stake with it. Surely you hope the military uses encryption and other forms of security to keep this from happening, but what about all the other options for consumers and companies? I don't think there has been something this reliant on the security of the radio communications in either the consumer market or anything operated by companies. Singular people can cause mass chaos if they have tools to take them over. It would be akin to doing it with entire vehicles; like if someone stole a delivery truck or someone's car.

    Hopefully companies are thinking of ways to avoid this!

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