Improving Drone Security in Smart Cities via Lightweight Cryptography

Raffaele Pizzolante, Arcangelo Castiglione, Francesco Palmieri, Angelo Passaro, Rocco Zaccagnino, Samanta La Vecchia

Abstract: In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly popular. It is estimated that the UAV market will continue to grow to reach $27.4 billion by 2030. The ability of UAVs to travel long distances and acquire and process information has made these devices suitable in many areas. On the other hand, their widespread use has made UAVs an attractive target for cyberattacks. More precisely, most of such attacks are targeted to the MAVLink, which is the main communication protocol used by UAVs.