German researchers have developed software to hack a DJI drone and steal all its data. This operation raises questions about these models used by many armies including the world, especially in Ukraine.
Who says ” connected », says « possibility of being hacked “. While fleets of commercial drones from the Chinese brand DJI are being transformed into weapons of war in Ukraine, the American media Wired publishes interesting research on March 2 on the hacking of these devices. Researchers from the Ruhr University in Bochum and the CISPA Helmholtz Center have developed software from a small computer tool to intercept communications between devices and their operator. By deconstructing the radio signals, they managed to recover the model’s identifier, its GPS location and the pilot’s coordinates. They published their research and uploaded the process to GitHub.
The operation is notably possible thanks to the Drone ID protocol. This system was designed to allow law enforcement to monitor drones and prevent their misuse. However, ethical hackers and security researchers warned last year that this protocol is not encrypted and is accessible to any specialist who wants to receive these radio signals.
The other security concern concerns Aeroscope, a software provided by DJI allowing the owner of the product to locate any other models of the company, on the 50 km around. Here too, the Chinese group preferred to avoid encryption to better trace the activity of its products.
A mark used in France or the United Kingdom
Although the German researchers tested signal interception at a height of around 7 meters, they believe that the operation can be optimized for higher altitudes. Wired cites another cybersecurity specialist, Conner Bender of the University of Tulsa, who successfully tested DroneID recovery from almost a hundred yards.
It should be remembered that this research remains experimental and is carried out in specific contexts. Nevertheless, they allow us to imagine the risks of using these drones in war zones. Thousands of DJI models are currently used by the Ukrainian and Russian armies. Other military forces use it for drone pilot training on air bases in Europe, notably in France or the United Kingdom.
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