A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach
Existing counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) defensive mechanisms rely heavily on radio frequency (RF) jamming techniques that require a large amount of energy to operate. The effects of RF jamming result in undesirable consequences, such as the jamming of other nearby friendly radio devices as w...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Drones |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/8/198 |
| _version_ | 1827600316021866496 |
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| author | Chee Hoe Lee Christian Thiessen Douglas L. Van Bossuyt Britta Hale |
| author_facet | Chee Hoe Lee Christian Thiessen Douglas L. Van Bossuyt Britta Hale |
| author_sort | Chee Hoe Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Existing counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) defensive mechanisms rely heavily on radio frequency (RF) jamming techniques that require a large amount of energy to operate. The effects of RF jamming result in undesirable consequences, such as the jamming of other nearby friendly radio devices as well as the increase in RF footprint for local operators. Current cybersecurity analysis of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UASs have revealed multiple vulnerabilities that give rise to opportunities to conduct C-UAS operations in the cyber domain. This is achieved by performing cyber-attacks on adversarial UASs through hijacking the device-specific communication’s link on a narrow RF band and without the need for broad-spectrum RF energy bursts during C-UAS operations, which can result in lower energy usage to accomplish the same outcome. This article validates the cyber-attack C-UAS (CyC-UAS) concept through reviewing recent C-UAS operational experimental scenarios and conducting analysis on the collected data. Then, a simulation model of a defense facility is constructed to analyze and validate specific mission scenarios of interest and several proposed concepts of operation. A comparison of the energy requirements between CyC-UAS and existing C-UAS techniques is performed to assess energy efficiency and trade-offs of different C-UAS approaches. In this article, the comparison of energy requirements between the CyC-UAS prototype and existing C-UAS products that utilize RF jamming methods reveals that CyC-UAS achieves significant energy savings while not affecting other telecommunication devices operating at the same frequencies. While both the C-UAS techniques adopt the denial-of-service strategy, the CyC-UAS is able to achieve the same mission by consuming much less energy. Therefore, the CyC-UAS concept shows promise as a new, lower energy, and lower collateral damage approach to defending against UAS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:33:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d6267a0379a64a13bfdc2b309ad5509d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-446X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:33:21Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drones |
| spelling | doaj.art-d6267a0379a64a13bfdc2b309ad5509d2023-12-03T13:33:18ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2022-08-016819810.3390/drones6080198A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack ApproachChee Hoe Lee0Christian Thiessen1Douglas L. Van Bossuyt2Britta Hale3Department of Systems Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Information Science, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Systems Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USADepartment of Computer Science, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USAExisting counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) defensive mechanisms rely heavily on radio frequency (RF) jamming techniques that require a large amount of energy to operate. The effects of RF jamming result in undesirable consequences, such as the jamming of other nearby friendly radio devices as well as the increase in RF footprint for local operators. Current cybersecurity analysis of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UASs have revealed multiple vulnerabilities that give rise to opportunities to conduct C-UAS operations in the cyber domain. This is achieved by performing cyber-attacks on adversarial UASs through hijacking the device-specific communication’s link on a narrow RF band and without the need for broad-spectrum RF energy bursts during C-UAS operations, which can result in lower energy usage to accomplish the same outcome. This article validates the cyber-attack C-UAS (CyC-UAS) concept through reviewing recent C-UAS operational experimental scenarios and conducting analysis on the collected data. Then, a simulation model of a defense facility is constructed to analyze and validate specific mission scenarios of interest and several proposed concepts of operation. A comparison of the energy requirements between CyC-UAS and existing C-UAS techniques is performed to assess energy efficiency and trade-offs of different C-UAS approaches. In this article, the comparison of energy requirements between the CyC-UAS prototype and existing C-UAS products that utilize RF jamming methods reveals that CyC-UAS achieves significant energy savings while not affecting other telecommunication devices operating at the same frequencies. While both the C-UAS techniques adopt the denial-of-service strategy, the CyC-UAS is able to achieve the same mission by consuming much less energy. Therefore, the CyC-UAS concept shows promise as a new, lower energy, and lower collateral damage approach to defending against UAS.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/8/198unmanned aerial systemcounter-unmanned aerial systemC-UAScyber-attackcybersecurity |
| spellingShingle | Chee Hoe Lee Christian Thiessen Douglas L. Van Bossuyt Britta Hale A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach Drones unmanned aerial system counter-unmanned aerial system C-UAS cyber-attack cybersecurity |
| title | A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach |
| title_full | A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach |
| title_fullStr | A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach |
| title_short | A Systems Analysis of Energy Usage and Effectiveness of a Counter-Unmanned Aerial System Using a Cyber-Attack Approach |
| title_sort | systems analysis of energy usage and effectiveness of a counter unmanned aerial system using a cyber attack approach |
| topic | unmanned aerial system counter-unmanned aerial system C-UAS cyber-attack cybersecurity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/6/8/198 |
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