The reality of drones: a good drone is one firmware update away from becoming a bad one.

Even drones that were responsibly designed to follow FAA airspace rules can become a security nightmare if their software is not properly controlled and maintained.  These useful devices can be derailed by a simple hack, making them extremely vulnerable and dangerous if controlled by the wrong hands.

In a market overview performed by cybernews, the retail drone industry is projected to reach $90 billion by 2030. Whether it be on the beach or at the park, the likeliness that you will see one of these devices in public spaces is high. As of 2022, there were 300,000 commercial pilot licenses issued with over 1 million drones registered—which excludes amateur drone pilots and their aircrafts. That’s a lot of busy air space.

Their size, remote capabilities, and difficulty to trace poses serious concerns to the cybersecurity industry—as evidenced by the rising popularity of drones with both civilian and federal entities, these concerns aren’t going anywhere. The danger will only grow.

If drones are in your IoT fleet, you should be asking yourself how secure these devices are. Can you trust the device is what it says it is? Are you sure you’re the only one who can control it?

Asking once isn’t enough. The base expectation is that the device in question can prove its provenance, capabilities, and current state at all times—regardless of their ability to do so previously.

SecureG’s Zero Trust PKI technology targets these specific machine-to-machine communications. Unlike traditional PKI, which was developed for web servers and employee credentials, SecureG’s solutions are designed for machine speed and machine scale.

Drones aren’t the enemy, but hackers who predicate on vulnerable devices can change that in a blink of an eye. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions for securing your next IoT fleet. https://secureg.io/contact-hubspot/