Serial hacker Samy Kamkar has released all the hardware and software specifications that hobbyists need to build an aerial drone that seeks out other drones in the air, hacks them, and turns them into a conscripted army of unmanned vehicles under the attacker's control. Dubbed SkyJack, the contraption uses a radio-controlled Parrot AR.Drone quadcopter carrying a Raspberry Pi circuit board, a small battery, and two wireless transmitters. The devices run a combination of custom software and off-the-shelf applications that seek out wireless signals of nearby Parrot drones, hijack the wireless connections used to control them, and commandeer the victims' flight-control and camera systems. SkyJack will also run on land-based Linux devices and hack drones within radio range. At least 500,000 Parrot drones have been sold since the model was introduced in 2010. Kamkar is the creator of the infamous Samy worm, a complex piece of JavaScript that knocked MySpace out of commission in 2005 when the exploit added more than one million MySpace friends to Kamkar's account.

Kamkar was later convicted for the stunt. He has since devoted his skills to legal hacks, including development of the "evercookie," a highly persistent browser cookie with troubling privacy implications. He has also researched location data stored by Android devices. SkyJack made its debut the same week that Amazon unveiled plans to use drones to deliver packages to customers' homes or businesses. "How fun would it be to take over drones, carrying Amazon packages... or take over any other drones and make them my little zombie drones," Kamkar asked rhetorically in a blog post published Monday. SkyJack works by monitoring the media access control (MAC) addresses of all Wi-Fi devices within radio range. When it finds a MAC address belonging to a block of addresses used by Parrot AR.Drone vehicles, SkyJack uses the open-source Aircrack-ng app for Wi-Fi hacking to issue a command that disconnects the vehicle from the iOS or Android device currently being used to control and monitor it.

Operators of the flying hacker drone are then able to use their own smart device to control the altitude, speed, and direction of the hijacked drone and to view its live video feeds. At the moment, SkyJack is engineered to target a small range of drones. That's because it's programmed to take over drones only if their MACs fall inside an address block reserved by Parrot AR.If the MAC falls outside that range, SkyJack takes no action at all. But the software is built in a way to easily target other types of drones that have communication systems that are similar to Parrot. That means a much broader range of devices may be susceptible to radio-controlled hijacking if they fail to adequately secure their connections.The lure of being in the sky is powerful. From the Chinese kites developed as far back as the 5th century BCE to the awe of watching humans take the first steps on the surface of the Moon the fascination to take to the sky seems to be a part of the very nature of many people.

Even now, in an age where you have to really work to find someone who has never been on an airplane, people still watch in awe at airshows, rocket launches, and other air-related events. ar drone battery calibrationIs it any wonder that the advent of the personal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, known as a UAV, has spurred such interest around the world?buy grendel drone commander As we come out of a cold and bitter winter into spring, you may look towards the sky yourself and think of getting a UAV or drone of your own. ar drone 2 prijsThere are lots of great smaller models of drone out there but in this article, I take a look at two of the heavier hitters, the Parrot AR.parrot ar drone samsung galaxy s2

Drone 2.0 and the Parallax ELEV-8. These are two very different commercial options, in a similar class, and both are outstanding for their different uses.parrot ar drone body mods Lets start with what these drones have in common. buy ebee uavThey are both quad (four) bladed designs that have a reasonable learning curve, are reasonably priced for their capabilities, and have on-board smarts to make the flying experience more enjoyable. That is about where the similarities end. Try Some Augmented Reality With Your KidsDrone 2.0 is a fantastic flight experience. Open the box, charge the batteries, and you are pretty much ready to go. Drone 2.0 has a built in 720p video camera and is perfect for light duty pleasure flying and aerial photography. It is rather amazing that, for the price, you can get up and running so fast and have your very own images from the sky.

Drone is controlled via a smartphone or tablet, iOS and Android compatible, over a WiFi signal provided by the drone itself. Yes, the drone is actually a flying base station. The WiFi bandwidth allows the video signal to be relayed in real-time back to the controlling device. Having a first person perspective from your drone is a ton of fun and gives you an amazing perspective. The drone has a USB port on-board for a USB dongle. If you want to capture full 720p video, you need to have the USB hooked up to allow for the higher data requirements. There is also an option for a GPS add-on module to fly pre-planned routes and provide a return-to-start option. Where the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 is like a Cessna 172—reliable, compact, and ready to go—the Parallax ELEV-8 is the C-130 of the at-home fleet. Heavier lift, ready for customization, and ready to work. You just need to be ready to work for the capabilities—work that I feel is worth it. In the ELEV-8, Parallax provides you what they are great at providing: a kit.

They have designed the ELEV-8, built it, tested it, and provide you all of the kitted parts ready to assemble. We are talking ALL of the parts are in the kit, with nothing assembled. This caused both apprehension and sheer joy for me. Let’s start with the apprehension. This is not a small kit with some simple through-hole soldering. It is a complex machine with some tricky solder connections, and requires you to pay close attention to the directions and understand what you are doing at every step. If you’ve never built a robot or other kit before, I highly recommend you start with some of the more basic Parallax builds and work your way up. The joy, and what you gain, is the ability to really know every piece of your drone. You know exactly how the motors are wired, how the speed controllers for the props are integrated, the routing and abilities of your power bus, and the knowledge of how to expand your build. The essential ELEV-8 kit does not come with any payload but with a 2 pound (0.9 kg) lift capacity, the ELEV-8 is ready to accept any payload you can imagine that will fit into that weight requirement.

Want a camera payload? You can easily integrate a GoPro HERO3+, with mass to spare, and capture video beyond 1080p HD. How about a scientific payload? There are a wealth of sensors available for instrumentation development on the Parallax website. How about a remote controlled egg-drop experiment with your kids? Easy enough with a couple actuators and maybe an XBee based remote control system. The fun of the ELEV-8 is that there is nothing pre-determined beyond the fact that you get a stable, reliable, flying platform. If you want to upgrade your payload capabilities, you can upgrade with two additional props for a hex-copter capable of lifting up to 4 pounds (1.8 kg). Fly multiple cameras and capture a flying 360 panoramic. You can also build a 3 boom, 6 prop, configuration that is capable of the same 4 pound lift. The ELEV-8 does not come with the remote control system so you will need your own transmitter/receiver pair. One thing to keep in mind is that buying either platform is an investment in a hobby.

It is not a one time cost. You WILL crash either platform. One of the ELEV-8 introductory videos even shows a crash on a first flight attempt. The ELEV-8 is obviously easy to repair. You built it yourself from parts and all of those parts are available from Parallax. In my finding, the AR.Drone was a little more fragile but did survive a drop from ~150 feet with a surprisingly small amount of damage. Looking up the spare parts that are available on the Parrot website, replacement parts to make the repairs to get back up and flying again were not substantial by any means. I don’t want to make it sound like either of these drones are prone to crashes. They are both stable and strong. When you are flying, uncontrolled descents with a sudden stop at the end are just a part of life. In my mind, it is impossible to directly compare the two drones. They are both well designed and capable drones that are very good at exactly what they are intended to do. I recommend you look at what the capabilities are and then look at your own needs and skills to decide between the two.