The technology for drone security is still in its infancy, although many innovations are being developed for capturing drones. There have been instances in the past when these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have come close to seriously jeopardizing the health, safety and, on some occasions, even the life of individuals and senior state officials.
Multi-drone tactics aren’t effective against single drone attacks. Governments and administrations around the world find themselves obliged to squarely address the threat that these devices pose to personal and state security.
Drone Security
Drone security measures can be broadly categorized into
- Tracking
- Jamming
- Kinetic
- Hybrid, hijacking and cyber approaches
While there are many options available for the first three categories, very few in the fourth category have been proved feasible. As a result, drone security is bound to remain an expensive and cumbersome affair for some time to come.
Statutory & Regulatory Norms
The effective use of many existing technologies for drone security violates numerous US laws pertaining to privacy, communication channels, aircraft interdiction and other domains.
US administrations have often had to take drastic measures to counter drone threats such as deploying patriot missiles against drones, a strategy earlier used by the Israeli military on multiple occasions. Lasers have also been used successfully to shoot down drones. Defense corporations such as Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are modifying some of their defense systems to monitor drones as a countermeasure. But these strategies can’t be adopted in an urban environment with a civilian population. Having said that, military grade equipment isn’t always required as drone trajectories can be altered by manipulating their GPS systems.
Drone Security Constraints
The majority of drone security solutions aren’t standardized. They can’t be scaled or adapted to a wide set of platforms.
Drone security begins with tracking them in their aerial course. Products are available in the market that can do this through radar, radio frequency, electro-optical, infrared or acoustic techniques. A combination of these methods can also be used.
The tricky part involves bringing down the drone without violating a law, causing a privacy breach, harming public safety or damaging private property.
For instance, in many places, people resort to disrupting 2.4 Ghz and 5.8 Ghz wifi frequencies. However, this method of jamming is prohibited in the US as it can hamper other communication devices that official agencies and emergency teams use during a crisis.
Drone Security Strategies
Detection and Monitoring: Gather intelligence on factors such as drone velocity, distance and time in transit
Control: Signals between the drone and controller can be interrupted and manipulated to divert the drone off its intended course
Projectiles & kinetics: A variety of objects such as nets, bullets, pellets or missiles can be used as counter measures
Lasers, magnetic and other devices: Electromagnetic-pulse devices can be used. However, the drone would fall down directly and could injure individuals
RC manipulation can be used to disable drone sensors or electronic signatures. For instance, GPS signals can be spoofed although this can be penalized as per the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
A highly effective approach involves subjecting drones to cyber-attacks that attack their wireless protocols and operating systems. In some cases, drones can also be targeted using mobile apps that facilitate telemetry. Other approaches include targeting:
- Communication channels between the drone and the manufacturer’s server
- The drone’s video or image server
A Feasible Drone Security Solution
The market value for drone security solutions is expected to cross $2 billion in the next five years. The need for expansion in this sector is being stimulated by a rising number of drone related incidents that lead to infrastructural damage, near collisions with aircrafts and so on. There are hundreds of drone security products and solutions that are either available in the market or under production.
Jamming is still preferred predominantly, especially during counter terrorism exercises in remote places. However, the need of the hour is drone security that doesn’t compromise civilian safety or communications infrastructure. That’s why many companies are using anti-drone laser technology to develop jamming and spoofing solutions.
Since these solutions are still in their infancy, the cost of their development far outweighs their monetary benefit to a company during a drone incident.
Most of the current anti-drone systems are hampered by altitude constraints. For instance, drone security products are built to counter UAVs flying at up to 700 feet. However, drone attacks can still be launched by deploying vehicles at over 1500 feet.
The way forward lies in developing a framework of consolidated systems that ensures drone security without affecting civilian health & safety or public infrastructure.
Industry experts also cite a lot of potential in the field of passive detection radar – which can be used to track multiple drones – as well as shield building.
Industry experts also forecast at least a functional level of remote identification being mandated by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) for all drones, regardless of the owner’s location. Further, the information gathered can be analyzed to trace the drone’s origin and use the intelligence for future reference.