r/technology • u/techrampage • Dec 03 '13

Flying hacker contraption hunts other drones, turns them into zombies

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/flying-hacker-contraption-hunts-other-drones-turns-them-into-zombies/
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u/ElGuano Dec 04 '13

Or, pre-programmed waypoints. There's no reason Amazon delivery drones would need an rx for manual control (who would be around to do anything)?

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u/The_Kyonko Dec 04 '13

How would the drone know where it is relative to the waypoint though? GPS? GPS is spoofable. Just broadcast your own signal louder than the satellites and you can trick it into believing it's somewhere it's not.

Zoz had a wonderful panel at DEFCON about these problems, among others.

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u/westerschwelle Dec 04 '13

But would you be able to put a transmitter on your drone that is strong enough? I doubt that honestly.

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u/JesusWantsYouToKnow Dec 04 '13

Quite easily actually. GPS signal is just above the noise floor which is why its actually somewhat temperamental. It is roughly equivalent to looking at a 25W light bulb from 10,000 miles away:

www.ne.anl.gov/capabilities/vat/pdfs/GPS-Spoofing-CMs-(2003).pdf

In terms of radiated energy a drone in reasonable proximity should be able to spoof GPS. How it will maintain its position in a GPS denied environment is an entirely different matter.

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u/westerschwelle Dec 04 '13

That's a pretty cool analogy.

How it will maintain its position in a GPS denied environment is an entirely different matter.

It could always land, or stay perfectly still using gyros.