DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Drones Can Be Easily Hijacked, Demoed At Def Con

Aug 16, 2015 by Udi Tirosh Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

hackced-drone

The Parrot Bebop drone has never been quite so popular as the DJI’s or 3DRs out there. It does not rank the same on the pro equipment scale so pros are less likely to use it. Then again, it is less than $500 where a 3DR solo (gimbal-less) or a DJI Phantom Vision 3 are around $1000. That puts the Bebop it the same price range as the Phantom  2, but again, not as popular.

Here is another reason why this little drone may not be as successful as its colleagues, it can be taken over or dropped to the ground quite easily.

There were two  different demos at DEF CON dealing with the Parrot drones, I think that the more interesting one was done by researchers Michael Robinson and George Mason. They were able to launch a (simple) de-auth wifi attack on the drone via its open wifi and take over the drone with their own installation of the free Parrot app.

bebop

Here is one of the demos that shows how to disable a Parrot:

The demo was fondly called “Knocking My Neighbor’s Kid’s Cruddy Drone Offline”

Robinson also tried to hijack a Phantom Vision 3, which proved to be a harder task since it is controlled via radio rather than Wifi. Lastly, Robinson warned anyone who planned to take over someone else’s Parrot drone that the mobile app left forensic artifacts on mobile devices—including the serial number of the drone.

While I am definitely not saying the people should start tethering their drones to avoid theft, I think these demos shows that the scope of handling with drones is far more complex that anyone had anticipated.

[via arstechnica]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Spectacular Hi-Def Aerial Photos Take You On A Breathtaking Tour Of The World How I photographed Comic Con portraits using only one light source Drones Under Fire: Officials Offer $75,000 Reward Leading To Pilots Who Flew Over Wildfire This is why drones and balloons don’t like to play together

Filed Under: news Tagged With: drone photography, drones, security

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Epic Timelapse Shows Nothing But Angles On The Milkyway
One Photographer’s Perspective on Moving From Canon To Sony »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • SpaceX shares unique view of Earth in latest video
  • Get ready to photograph two total solar eclipses this year
  • How I started (and succeeded) photographing space from my backyard
  • Insta360’s new teaser says they’re entering the gimbal market
  • Users report blurry photos from Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+ cameras

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy