Survey Maps Cybersecurity Threats and Defenses for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

Global: Survey Maps Cybersecurity Threats and Defenses for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

A new academic paper posted on arXiv in January 2026 examines the spectrum of cyber‑security vulnerabilities and corresponding defenses affecting small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) operating within emerging UAS Traffic Management (UTM) frameworks. The authors aim to fill a gap in system‑oriented analysis for resource‑constrained platforms by providing a detailed, taxonomy‑driven review.

Growth of sUAS and Dependence on Secure CNS

The rapid adoption of lightweight, networked drones for civil and commercial missions has heightened reliance on secure communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) subsystems. These components enable coordination with ground stations, peer drones, and cloud‑based UTM services, making them attractive targets for spoofing, jamming, hijacking, and data manipulation.

Comprehensive Attack‑Vector Taxonomy

The survey organizes existing research across the full cyber‑physical stack, covering CNS links, data‑link protocols, sensing and perception modules, cloud‑access interfaces, and software integrity layers. Attack vectors are classified by technical target—such as signal integrity, firmware authenticity, or cloud API security—and by operational impact, ranging from loss of situational awareness to complete mission failure.

Defensive Strategies Across the Stack

Corresponding mitigation techniques are reviewed, including conventional encryption and authentication, lightweight cryptographic schemes designed for limited processing power, adaptive intrusion‑detection systems, and secure firmware management practices. The authors also discuss emerging approaches such as blockchain‑based provenance tracking and machine‑learning‑driven anomaly detection.

Assessment of Scalability and Practical Effectiveness

Each defense mechanism is evaluated for scalability to large fleets and for practical effectiveness under real‑world constraints such as bandwidth limits, energy budgets, and regulatory compliance. The analysis highlights trade‑offs between security strength and resource consumption, noting that some lightweight solutions may offer sufficient protection for specific threat models.

Open Challenges and Future Directions

The paper identifies several open challenges, including the need for standardized security benchmarks for sUAS, integration of security controls into UTM protocols, and methods for continuous updates of cryptographic primitives without disrupting operations. The authors call for interdisciplinary collaboration to develop robust, future‑proof solutions.

This report is based on information from arXiv, licensed under Academic Preprint / Open Access. Based on the abstract of the research paper. Full text available via ArXiv.