Cyber attacks on UAV networks: A comprehensive survey

Abstract

New technologies are constantly emerging in the modern world and changing the way we live our everyday lives. Although technology has many useful applications, there are various ways it can potentially be abused. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are one of the most rapidly developing technologies, with potentially far-reaching consequences. A new focus on UAV applications has fueled rising concerns with regards to security, specifically around networked UAVs. UAVs may be managed from a remote place with relative ease. Essential operations involving the use of military tactics and weapons involve employing them in a variety of situations, such as reconnaissance, surveillance, and offensive, defensive, and civilian capacities. Message insertion, message manipulation, jamming, and GPS spoofing are the most commonly used cyber-attacks against these systems. Ensuring the security of electronics and communications in systems that employ several UAVs is of utmost importance to guarantee their safety and dependability in military and civilian activities. Many technological methods have been developed over the past decade for securing UAVs from cyber-attacks. This paper attempts to summaries the problems that can arise with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cyber-attacks, and the countermeasures used to protect against them. This is the first paper that details all of the past cyber-attacks on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).