A Survey on Cybersecurity in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Cyberattacks, Defense Techniques and Future Research Directions

Abstract

Today, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, are increasingly used by organizations, businesses and governments in a variety of military and civilian applications, including reconnaissance, border surveillance, port security, transportation, public safety surveillance, agriculture, scientific research, rescue and more. However, drone cybersecurity has become a major concern due to the growing risk of cyberattacks aimed at compromising the confidentiality, integrity and availability of drone systems. These cyberattacks can have serious consequences, such as disclosure or theft of sensitive data, loss of drones, disruption of drone performance, etc. In the existing literature, little work has been devoted to the cybersecurity of UAV systems. To fill this gap, a taxonomy of cyberattacks in UAV is proposed focusing on the three main categories, namely interception attacks against confidentiality, modification or fabrication attacks against integrity and disruption attacks against data availability. Next, a survey of defense techniques that can be used to protect UAV systems is carried out. Finally, a discussion is held on technologies for improving drone cybersecurity, such as Blockchain and Machine Learning, as well as the challenges and future direction of research.