MESSAGE
| DATE | 2017-06-07 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] ISIS may be using DJI consumer drones for
|
High tech
http://www.businessinsider.com/oxford-research-group-warns-of-terrorist-drone-use-by-isis-2016-1
There is evidence that extremist militant group ISIS is using DJI
Phantom drones for reconnaissance purposes, according to a report put
together by the Remote Control Project, a think tank hosted by the
Oxford Research Group.
To be clear, ISIS could be using other hobbyist drones for
reconnaissance purposes as well. The report mentions instances where
ISIS used unidentified consumer drones for surveillance purposes. But in
early 2014, ISIS was spotted using DJI Phantom drones in Fallujah, Iraq.
Chris Abbott, lead author of the study, said in an email to Tech Insider
that the use of consumer drones by terrorist and other criminal groups
"suggest a very real threat, that while not imminent, is growing rapidly."
The report notes that ISIS used unidentified consumer drones to gain
situational awareness prior to the campaign to capture the Tabqa
military airfield in northern Syria in August 2014. The airfield
ultimately came under the control of the ISIS.
The jihadi group also released a video in April 2015 of operatives using
unidentified consumer drones for reconnaissance and battlefield
coordination prior to the assault on the Baiji oil refinery complex in Iraq.
The report states that consumer drones pose the greatest risk because of
their widespread availability, but that developments with unmanned
ground vehicles and unmanned marine vehicles (essentially drones that
operate on the ground or out at sea) "are opening up new avenues for
hostile groups to exploit" as well.
It's worth noting that DJI drones are arguably the most available, as
DJI is the largest consumer drone manufacturer in the world, which could
explain why ISIS picked the Phantom model in 2014 and could still be
using them today.
"We condemn any misuse and abuse of our technology," Adam Najberg,
global director of communications at DJI, told Tech Insider.
Najberg added that learning ISIS has used DJI drones is akin to learning
the terrorist group uses Toyota's — manufacturers can only hope
consumers will use them the way they are intended.
The report also details other ways non-consumer drones are being used to
aid terrorist organizations.
The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah has the longest history of
drone use by a non-state group, the report found.
The report mentions several instances the militant group has used its
small fleet of drones to either spy on or attack Israeli military
targets. In summer 2006, Hezbollah attempted to use three small Ababil
drones carrying explosive payloads with the intention of attack Israeli
military targets (the drones were shot down).
Ababil 1 Hamas Drone Ababil drones used by Al-Qassam Brigades.
Screenshot/www.youtube.com
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian organization
Hamas, is also suspected of having a small fleet of drones. The Israeli
forces shot one down, which was potentially armed, in 2014.
The report calls for stricter measures limiting the capabilities of
commercially available drones. It also calls for control measures like
radio frequency jammers, to take down drones.
Steps have been taken by different authority figures to better track
drones and prevent potentially harmful drones from entering vulnerable
areas.
Tokyo is using anti-drone squads to capture drones that are flying over
crowded residential areas.
The FAA has also made it mandatory that anyone who owns a consumer drone
register it with the government.
"At present, ISIS is the only terrorist group known to have used
consumer drones for attack and intelligence purposes," Abbott said. "But
given that ISIS is the greatest security threat to the UK at present, I
think we have to take the scenario that drones will be used as part of
or to support a terrorist attack very seriously."
Najberg said there is a fine balance between restricting drone usage and
still allowing them to be used in the way they should be.
"It's important to legislate and regulate based on the technology and
reality — not fear," he said.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive
http://www.coinhangout.com - coins!
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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