Understanding Security Threats in Consumer Drones Through the Lens of the Discovery Quadcopter Family

In this paper we identify new threats to drones in an effort to have a better public discussion of realistic attacks that vendors need to take into consideration when designing their products. In particular we study in detail the security of a new drone family (U818A) released in 2016, which is quickly becoming a best-selling brand, and is re-purposed and sold by a variety of drone vendors. We implemented and tested several attacks and considered privacy issues (e.g., remotely accessing someone else's drone to take video or images of a private setting), security issues (e.g., stealing a drone mid-flight), and safety issues (e.g., taking down a drone operated by someone else). We finish the paper by recommending basic steps to improve the security of drones.