Security Threats Analysis of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System

Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) find increasing use in the civil airspace where multi-UAV systems are deployed to perform operations supervised by remote control facilities. Since these multi-UAV systems operate in public locations and connect using open communication standards, it raises significant security concerns. While most UAV designers befittingly deal with the complexity of autonomy, communication, and control, they often ignore to consider system security aspects in the early design phase. To support the security design process of multi-UAV systems, this paper provides an analysis of cybersecurity threats of multi-UAV systems based on the STRIDE model. The identified threats are subsequently linked with a risk assessment to be prioritized according to severity. We conclude by establishing a set of security design recommendations for connected inspection UAVs to contribute with guidance for the design of future multi-UAV systems.