Commercial Drones: Peeping Tom or Precision Operator? A Governance, Risk and Compliance Framework for a Secure Drone Eco-system

Technological advancement like drones are serving society in numerous applications. The transition of drones from the battlefield to society has facilitated a thriving commercial drone industry. Nevertheless, like other novel technology, there is a multitude of benefits and challenges emerging from commercial drone usage. This paper investigates unique challenges and threats faced by commercial drone applications. It addresses the rise in commercial drone-related security incidents and the absence of an adequate regulatory model that has fueled controversies for its usage in society. Further, the paper discusses the lack of an active threat identification framework and flaws in the drone architecture, which have raised questions on privacy and ethical issues of operating commercial drones. The papers’ key objective is to develop an effective security-focused Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) framework. This dynamic framework can actively identify and mitigate threats arising from commercial drone applications and creating a secure drone eco-system