Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Drone Technology

The use of drones for various applications has been on the rise in recent years. From delivery services to aerial photography, drones have proven to be a valuable tool for a variety of industries. However, the increased prevalence of drones has also raised concerns about security and safety. In high-security locations such as airports, the possibility of rogue drones posing a threat to the safety of passengers and personnel has led to the development of counter-drone technologies. One such technology that has gained attention in recent years is the use of drones to take down other drones. See the video here:

Video source: https://twitter.com/HowThingsWork_/status/1611069508201943055

The use of drones as a means of warfare has been a controversial topic for some time now. Military drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, have been used by various countries for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and targeted airstrikes. While drones can provide an advantage in certain situations, their use has also raised ethical and legal issues, particularly with regard to civilian casualties.

The use of drones for warfare is not limited to military applications. Non-state actors have also been known to use drones for hostile purposes, such as smuggling drugs and weapons across borders or carrying out attacks. In some cases, these drones have been used to disrupt critical infrastructure, such as oil facilities and power plants. The use of drones as a means of warfare is likely to increase in the future, as the technology becomes more widespread and sophisticated. As such, the development of counter-drone technologies will become increasingly important in order to protect against these threats.

Lecturing about security and blockchain in a Masters course

On 24 November, I was invited to deliver a guest lecture to Masters students in Computer Science at Malmö University.  The lecture’s main topic was IoT security and the application of blockchain as a security-enhancing technology.  It was fun doing this 2-hour lecture over Zoom, and especially I was pleased to see some former students attending my lecture.

When introducing blockchain, I focused on a  use-case where this technology is used for securing drone communication. In particular, I referenced the paper titled “Towards data assurance and resilience in IoT using blockchain” which uses some of the properties of blockchain for providing instant and permanent data integrity, trusted accountability, and a resilient backend for drones.  Blockchain has several uses including also in smart homes (e.g., as discussed in the paper titled “Blockchain for IoT Security and Privacy: The Case Study of a Smart Home”) and in many other domains.

Recently, I also co-authored a paper with some of my colleagues where we explored the use of blockchain for countering adversarial attacks in incremental learning.