Robohub.org
 

‘Quadcopter’ crashes onto White House grounds, poses security threat


by
26 January 2015



share this:

The White House was put on high alert today as a drone was flown at low altitude onto the south-east side of the complex. A secret service spokesperson said “An investigation is under way to determine the origin of this commercially available device, motive, and to identify suspects”. It’s been reported that the drone was a 2ft long quadcopter and wasn’t carrying a dangerous payload. 

One reporter from The Associated Press tweeted:

While drones can pose a security threat if they get in the wrong hands, there are some simple ways to protect against the everyday off-the shelve drones that are available on the market. Two of the best ways to do this is ‘jamming’ or ‘hacking’ – which involves intercepting the control links from the operator and either taking control or disabling the device completely. Another possibility is interference with the drones GPS receiver unit, making it ‘think’ it is in a different location than it is. The final might be an actual intercept of the drone: you could possibly use another drone to do this, capturing any dangerous payload in the process.

An alternative is to bring tighter regulations that would require manufacturers to control for such threats by developing safety measures directly into the platforms. What today’s events illustrate is that we certainly must consider not just how to use drones, but how to protect against rogue drones too.

In the latest development, White House officials are reporting that a government employee has come forward to claim responsibility for the crash, saying that he lost control of the drone while flying it for recreational purposes. Follow more here, and on Twitter:




tags: , ,


Ben Fisher is the co-founder and CEO of Bookadrone. Ben comes from a background in marketing and digital product development.
Ben Fisher is the co-founder and CEO of Bookadrone. Ben comes from a background in marketing and digital product development.





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 123 – Standardising robot programming, with Nick Thompson

  30 May 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Nick Thompson from BOW about software that makes robots easier to program.

Congratulations to the #AAMAS2025 best paper, best demo, and distinguished dissertation award winners

  29 May 2025
Find out who won the awards presented at the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems last week.

Congratulations to the #ICRA2025 best paper award winners

  27 May 2025
The winners and finalists in the different categories have been announced.

#ICRA2025 social media round-up

  23 May 2025
Find out what the participants got up to at the International Conference on Robotics & Automation.

Robot Talk Episode 122 – Bio-inspired flying robots, with Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez

  23 May 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez from Delft University of Technology about drones that can move on land and in the air.

Robot Talk Episode 121 – Adaptable robots for the home, with Lerrel Pinto

  16 May 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Lerrel Pinto from New York University about using machine learning to train robots to adapt to new environments.

What’s coming up at #ICRA2025?

  16 May 2025
Find out what's in store at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation, which will take place from 19-23 May.

Robot see, robot do: System learns after watching how-tos

  14 May 2025
Researchers have developed a new robotic framework that allows robots to learn tasks by watching a how-to video



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence