A Framework for Sensing Radio Frequency Spectrum Attacks on Medical Delivery Drones

Abstract

Drone susceptibility to jamming or spoofing attacks of GPS, RF, Wi-Fi, and operator signals presents a danger to future medical delivery systems. A detection framework capable of sensing attacks on drones could provide the capability for active responses. The identification of interference attacks has applicability in medical delivery, disaster zone relief, and FAA enforcement against illegal jamming activities. A gap exists in the literature for solo or swarm-based drones to identify radio frequency spectrum attacks. Any nondelivery specific function, such as attack sensing, added to a drone involves a weight increase and additional complexity; therefore, the value must exceed the disadvantages. Medical delivery, high-value cargo, and disaster zone applications could present a value proposition which overcomes the additional costs. The paper examines types of attacks against drones and describes a framework for designing an attack detection system with active response capabilities for improving the reliability of delivery and other medical applications.

Autonomous aerial robotics for package delivery: A technical review

“…Kulp and Mei (2020) identify types of cyber‐attacks against delivery UAVs which would aid in designing an attack detection system. They show a range vector can be used to maliciously manipulate the navigation system of the UAV with hostile intent.…”

“…Alternatively, the hacker could predict the frequency‐hopping spread spectrum pattern by reverse‐engineering the transmitter or receiver. With delivery systems, malicious actors may be interested in the theft of packages or disruption of service (Kulp & Mei, 2020). Hardware used for detecting these threats increases the weight and complexity of the UAV.…”

A hybrid security system for drones based on ICMetric technology

“…Different conclusions were drawn using this model with a simulation dataset. [15] presented a framework for attack detection that could be used to protect the environment of medical delivery drones with active capability, delivery reliability, and other medical applications.…”

A Comprehensive Evaluation on the Impact of Various Spoofing Scenarios on GPS Sensors in a Low-Cost UAV

“…This rapid ascent in demand is due to numerous factors, such as the integration of advanced technologies, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to perform autonomous tasks without human intervention [2] [3]. The inclination to use low-cost UAVs in a diverse range of industries, agriculture, logistics, medicine, media, and the advent of advanced applications, such as remote sensing, have further contributed to the surging demand [4] [5].…”