UAV Counter Measures, Physical Security Threats & Solutions

The Good  Drones are now being used to conduct inspections for:  External building inspections (400/400exceptions).  Electricity, oil and gas infrastructure inspection  Geo mapping of current and prospective properties  Medical deliveries to remote areas  Agriculture  Crisis management  Weather related damage inspections  Mechanical related damage inspections  Safety operations  Security and Search and Rescue Operations  Wildfires  Earthquakes  Missing Persons

The Bad  Can be Used for Surveillance  Video, audio, spoofing  Can Disrupt Operations  Maintenance  Repair  Construction  Increasingly Used by Protestors/Activists  Animal Rights and Cattle Farmers  The police often don’t know the rules either  Increasingly Becoming a Potential Life and Property Damaging Threat  Drones operators cannot guarantee that their drone will not malfunction  Danger to humans (employees and customers)  Sporting venues, outdoor malls, golf clubs etc.  Can be Flown at High Speeds Limiting Detection and Response Times and can weigh up to 55lbs

The Ugly  Drones can now truly be considered a threat due to weaponization  Weaponization methods are endless and only limited to drone size and weight  They are adaptable weapons  IEDs  Biological/radiological  Direct delivery “kamikaze” attacks

What This Means for Utilities  Another security management concern  Need to address in your security plan  Need to educate your employees  What and what not to do if encountering unauthorized drones  Have a plan and educate your employees  Another operations management tool  Can be hired and used for a myriad of facility operations  External inspections  Security  Must ensure that commercial operators are licensed  Must ensure that they have insurance  Must ensure that you have an insurance rider

What Can Be Done? • It’s complicated; • Federal vs. State Laws, Regulations and Ordinances • FAA, FCC, NTSB, DOT, DOJ, DOC etc. • Detection & Mitigation (counter measures) • Detection vs. Mitigation • Situational awareness is the key variable! • Organization security plans & procedures Travis Moran, Navigant Consulting, Inc. [email protected] (434) 882-1016