Puuurrr... rom rom rom, meow! <3 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility) Announcement List" < pfir@pfir.org> Date: Oct 30, 2016 12:09 PM Subject: [ PFIR ] There's a new way to take down drones, and it doesn't involve shotguns To: 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-complet... 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.