Technological innovations in recent years are recording a high growth that often does not go hand in hand with some aspects involving safety.
This is the case of remotely piloted aircraft (APR) or Unmanned air system (UAS), commonly called drones. The drone industry has developed a lot, bringing with it an incredible potential in various fields, drones are already used by the army in the military, in agriculture, in the film market. A very wide range of uses opens up to a new market recently even Cloud providers have begun to experiment with the use of drones: Facebook and Google have projects to use drones with very large wingspan, powered by solar energy, to bring the Internet connectivity in isolated areas of the globe, to reach billions of people not yet connected. Amazon is studying “home drone delivery” solutions for the delivery of goods. In this scenario, the need to consider the security aspect not only in terms of privacy but also IT is beginning to take shape more and more urgently.
On the one hand, uses that do not comply with the provisions of the regulations, and therefore possible economic sanctions or legal actions in the event of damage caused to third parties. On the other hand, the possible malicious use of this technology can put individuals and companies at risk. It is therefore necessary to reflect in the regulatory field to protect its safe use. Organizations must consider who has the ability to control drone activities, what data is stored, how access to this information is managed and monitored and, ultimately, who is responsible for their safety. The bodies that regulate civil aviation activities, ICAO worldwide, EASA in Europe and ENAC in Italy, have already intervened by adapting the flight regulations to the reality of drones. In Italy, ENAC published a new legislation on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Vehicles in 2015, specifying that all operations with drones can be carried out only after having compulsorily acquired the necessary authorizations. The industry is looking for ways to better track and identify Drones, similar to the use of car license plates, with the aim of not only working with those of the same manufacturer but with every Drone released in recent years (insiders are drafting an official list), thanks to the Wi-Fi Aware standard available on smartphones, for a range of about 1 km.
Chinese company DJI, one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial drones, is developing technology that would allow anyone to track drone recordings in flight using just a smartphone. This would become very useful for traceability purposes for unauthorized drones. The risk of improper and malicious use also and above all involves the security of computer systems, as well as being a vehicle for terrorist acts. In this scenario it must be a priority to consider the need to have a monitoring of drones that access corporate or private properties without adequate control. Until now, security had been based on good perimeter protection that secured the heart of the company while keeping the bad guys at bay. Today it is possible to have a small drone deposited on the roof of the company with everything necessary to unhinge the computer network on board. The risk of espionage, cyber incursions, system breaches, privacy and information theft is an important point that must seek a parallel search for solutions and defenses.
A system developed by Finmeccanica for the protection of sensitive sites from possible drone attacks is the Falcon Shield technology, which allows ground operators to identify, identify, track and counter the threats posed by any drones flying at low altitude. slow and small. The response implemented by Falcon Shield introduces the ability to gain control of remotely piloted drones to land them safely away from crowded areas.
If research has been activated in this area it is precisely because every technological innovation always corresponds to a computer threat and for this reason we must never let our guard down.
