There's a new way to take down drones, and it doesn't involve shotguns

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: October 30, 2016 at 11:05:52 AM EDT
> To: nnsquad () nnsquad org
> Subject: [ NNSquad ] There's a new way to take down drones, and it doesn't involve shotguns
>
>
> There's a new way to take down drones, and it doesn't involve shotguns
>
> http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/10/drone-hijacker-gives-hackers-complete-control-of-aircraft-in-midflight/
>
>      Now, a researcher has demonstrated a significantly more subtle
>    and proactive remedy that doesn't involve shotgun blasts or
>    after-the-fact arrests by law enforcement. It's a radio
>    transmitter that seizes complete control of nearby drones as
>    they're in mid-flight. From then on, the drones are under the
>    full control of the person with the hijacking device. The
>    remote control in the possession of the original operator
>    experiences a loss of all functions, including steering,
>    acceleration, and altitude. The hack works against any drone
>    that communicates over DSMx, a widely used remote control
>    protocol for operating hobbyist drones, planes, helicopters,
>    cars, and boats.
>
> - - -
>
> There are interesting comments about which common protocols are
> actually vulnerable to this attack, but perhaps much more to the 
> point -- and this aspect seems to almost always be overlooked in discussions
> like this even though it should be obvious -- any flyer operating in
> autonomous mode with the main radio purposely inoperative (it could be
> programmed to enable briefly for takeoff and landing if necessary)
> will be invulnerable to such attacks, and still be extremely 
> capable -- in most cases fully able to fly its entire programmed mission
> without interference. This includes virtually all of the systems based
> on the widely available open source ArduCopter code.
>
> --Lauren--
> Care About Science and Tech? Our Job One: STOP TRUMP: 
> https://vortex.com/stop-trump
> - - -
> Lauren Weinstein (lauren () vortex com): https://www.vortex.com/lauren 
> Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
> Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org 
>         PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
> Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: https://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
> Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Google+: https://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently 
> doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone.
> - - -
> The correct term is "Internet" NOT "internet" -- please don't 
> fall into the trap of using the latter. It's just plain wrong!
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