Attack
For terrorist groups and vandals, drones are the ultimate weapon to cause maximum harm from a distance and at a small cost. These tiny and widely available devices can carry grenades and other small arms, as well as hazardous chemicals. They pose a severe danger to public safety, but also to law enforcement.
Terrorists are starting to use drones for reconnaissance, espionage and combat activities. And such unmanned aerial vehicles could be used to deploy hazardous chemical weapons, deliver explosives, or even carry out nuclear attacks. Former U.S. President Barack Obama outlined a possible situation where terrorists spread radioactive material across a densely populated city. But in order to cause havoc, terrorists would not need access to nuclear materials. For example, they could decide to poison the water system by flying a drone over a water facility and dropping poison inside.
Collision
Drones can readily fly into restricted airspace and threaten the safety of critical infrastructures. With some drones weighing more than 10 kg (22lbs), they present a severe struck-by danger to passers-by on the ground or on passenger aircraft.
Imagine the level of damage, if sucked into a jet engine, a swarm of drones could cause. While most airports prohibit drones from flying near them, it may be difficult to implement such regulations. The worrying thing is that all of the airport approaches are published with excellent precision. Since the autopilot modes of aircraft fly in accordance with an accurately predefined flight, it would not be too hard for a drone operator to place a drone right in the middle of this flight route – either near an airport or elsewhere along the flight route of an aircraft. You don’t even have to be at the airport to cause a great damage.
Contraband
Consumer drones are accessible at affordable prices for purchase online or in shops and are easy to use. Criminals have used them to smuggle contraband items into areas that were difficult to achieve, such as prisons, ports or across national borders. The maximum payload weight may vary from several hundred grams to several kilograms depending on the drone model.
Many prisons across the U.S. are working to prevent drones from smuggling to inmates everything from drugs, pornography, and smartphones. Last year, after a drone dropped heroin into the exercise yard, a fight erupted in an Ohio prison. Drug cartels also used drones to ferry their goods across the United States and Mexican border.
Spying
It may be daring to have a drone hover outside of a board room and snap photos, but it is not unheard of. Some of the most damaging hijacks associated with drones involve computer hacking. For example, there are reports of drones loaded with a Raspberry Pi that can land at a data center and steal sensitive information. With an on-board separate power source, it can continue sniffing and transmitting information over time.
Because small consumer drones are capable of carrying nano pcs and routers, all sensitive sites are at danger of an airborne cyber-attack. This implies that sensitive and confidential data can be stolen without any security alerts being triggered.
Hacking
Drones are also opening up an array of new avenues for hackers. Not only can consumer drones be hacked in flight, causing them to crash, they also can be used for stealing sensitive information from the public. It would not be difficult for a drone to hover 150 feet above a park, broadcast a WiFi signal overhead, and then grab sensitive information from anyone using the network. For example, the security firm SensePost showed the feasibility of such attacks with its so-called Snoopy Drone in 2014.