Cybersecurity of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the cybersecurity controls needed to protect Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to ensure the safe integration of this technology into the National Airspace System (NAS) and society. This research presents the current vulnerabilities present in UAS technology today along with proposed countermeasures, a description of national and international rules, standards, and activities pertaining to UAS and cybersecurity, and a minimum set of safety operational requirements which are recommended to be implemented by manufacturers of small UAS and mandated by governing agencies. UAS attacks are defined in three categories: hardware attack, wireless attack, and sensor spoofing. The future influx of small and hobby oriented UAS should consider a minimum set of regulated cyber safety standards right out of the box, such as Geofencing technology and isolated auto safety measures. The commonality between national and international cyber related activities point to several operational requirements, hardware limitations, and heightened UAS vulnerabilities. These include type of radio frequency spectrum that is used during operation, methods for detect and avoid, safety measures, lost link procedures, and corrupted data communications