50 YEARS AGO This
Month in History
1965
that has apparently already happened. Last September, New Jersey police noticed a drone hovering over the Upper Saucon Police Department headquarters. They were con- cerned that someone appeared to be conducting surveil- lance on them. The next day, police in Pennsylvania arrest- ed a New Jersey man in a vehicle crammed with dozens of stolen cellphones. Police believe the suspect was using his drone to check out retail cellphone outlets, essentially cas- ing them for vulnerabilities before breaking in and stealing the phones. As security expert Dan Coleman told CBS2 News: “The
easiest way to get into commercial buildings is through dif- ferent ducts and vents that are on the roof. [Drones are] a way to check and case how they are going to get into build- ings without having to climb on the roof in advance.” As that incident suggests, crooks use drones for the same
reasons the CIA does: It enables stealthy, remote inspec- tion of an area without any direct risk to the pilot. In the case of a drug-smuggler, for example, if police capture a drone, the suspect can simply retract the antenna on his remote controller, and drive away.
S
o what’s behind the growing criminalization of drone technology? Experts say the same trends that make
drones more appealing to hobbyists — cheaper drones that offer increasingly sophisticated capabilities — also make them more attractive to crooks seeking to employ them in criminal enterprises. Given the state of current technology, most consumer drones have limited range and battery life, and carry a payload of just a few pounds. But as the technol- ogy develops, those limitations are likely to disappear. Last April, a newspaper in London reported on thieves
using infrared cameras mounted on drones to locate illegal cannabis farms, due to heat signatures from hydroponic lights. The rip- off artists would then steal the crops. Marc Goodman, founder of the Future
Crimes Institute, predicts that it’s only a matter of time before police find them- selves up against drones in the hands of criminals. “Innovation cannot be stopped,” Goodman told the technically savvy audi- ence at the 2012 TEDGlobal event in Edinburgh, “and that means the drones are coming.” Criminals know drones can access areas that they would otherwise be unable to pen- etrate. For decades, security-system designers have focused on barriers like fences and walls to protect vulnerable
GOODMAN
25 YEARS AGO
Martin Luther King Jr. begins historic Selma, Ala., March.
1990
Tiny Remote Aircraſt A Nightmare for Police
O
ne reason drones are fast becoming a
favorite tool for criminals — they are extremely hard to detect. On radar, a quadrotor has about the same cross- section as a bird. “Because there are a lot
of birds out there, you filter that out,” explains Jeremy Gillula, staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation watchdog group. “It’s just that as a matter of size, they’re dificult to detect.” Several firms sell systems
designed to trigger an alert whenever a drone is detected. They use a combination of radar, heat-detecting cameras, and acoustic sensors. But acoustic devices don’t work well in urban areas that have a lot of background noise. In July, the Department of Homeland Security oficials conducted a test at the MLB All-Star Game to see if they could detect drones
flying toward the 40,000- seat stadium. The advanced, expensive radar they used did spot the drones. But that success highlighted another issue: There was still no way to intercept the drones or apprehend their pilots. The specter of
increasingly sophisticated drones is a nightmare for police, especially during high profile events that draw big crowds. According to Gillula, last season alone a dozen drones were discovered operating near NFL stadiums. In response, one proposal
would require each drone to bear a unique number, not unlike an automobile license plate. Another proposal involves embedding an RFID chip inside the fuselage to transmit identifying information as needed. But as Gillula tells
Newsmax, “That raises a concern: Should you have the right to operate a drone anonymously?” — A.H.
areas. But drones can simply hover above such obstacles, and thieves can operate far from cameras. Coleman noted: “Gated communities, places that are well-protected . . . if you can put a drone above the property it is wide open.” According to Goodman, drones are already able to “cir-
cumvent our current security paradigms.” He told the TED conference: “Prisons use tall, often electric, fences to isolate criminals for public safety. In Brazil, organized crime gangs used drones to fly cellphones and other contraband right over the fences.” Goodman’s bottom line: “Modern security design is failing to keep pace with the flying robots.”
MARCH 2015 | NEWSMAX 13
Carole Gist becomes first African-American crowned Miss USA.
KING, GIST/AP IMAGES / COURTESY OF MARC GOODMAN/CG PHOTOGRAPHY
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