So-called unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have rapidly expanded from their original use in the military and are set to become part of a multibillion-dollar business, the firm claimed in a report entitled Rise of the Drones: Managing the Unique Risks Associated with Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

In fact, PwC estimates they will take $127bn worth of human work by 2020, while the European Commission has claimed 10 percent of the global civil aviation fleet could be unmanned in a decade.

However, there are attendant risks, notably the prospect of hackers taking remote control of a drone “causing a crash in the air or on the ground resulting in material damage and loss of life.”

The report continues: “The term ‘spoofing’ refers to attempts to take control of a UAS via hacking the radio signal and sending commands to the aircraft from another control station. This is a very real risk for UAS since they are controlled by radio or Wi-Fi signals. Companies which claim to sell devices to specifically bring down or take control of UAS can be found online.”

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