Summary: Drone threats are rising as drones are raising concerns with operators of stadiums, airports, prisons, and infrastructure—impacting physical, cyber, and public security.
Not all drone incursions are threats. Within a controlled perimeter, some drones may be authorized. But on the other hand, many drones are flown by uninformed or unskilled pilots.
A primary drone threat is that even though drone flights are regulated to protect the safety of the public, enforcement is difficult.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a division of the Department of Transportation that regulates U.S. airspace, categorizes drone flights as either commercial or recreational. What constitutes a commercial flight leaves some room for interpretation, but recreational flights are purely for enjoyment.
Commercial drone flights have made a substantial positive impact in areas like agriculture, law enforcement, and construction. But as with all good technology, some use it irresponsibly or figure out a way to exploit it.
In the last decade drones have become cheaper and more readily available, and while the FAA continues to educate the public on safe drone use, the clueless and careless recreational/hobbyist pilots continue to represent the bulk of drone-related incidents in the US today. One significant concern is that a drone weighing even a few pounds falling from hundreds of feet in the air can injure or kill someone and/or cause property damage.
To summarize, while not all drones are threats per se, their presence can raise important safety and security considerations in most environments where people or property are present. Most security teams focus on “two-dimensional” protection like fences, gates, and walls, but drones introduce a third dimension that organizations should factor into both their physical and cybersecurity plans.
Here is a breakdown of drone threats implications by industry, that further explores the question posed in the title of this blog – “Why are Drones a Security and Safety Concern?
Stadium security managers carry the enormous responsibility of protecting tens of thousands of people at once. To support them, the FAA issues Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) that limit where drones can fly during major events. For example, MLB, NFL, certain NCAA, and NASCAR events fall under a three-nautical-mile restriction beginning one hour before the scheduled start and lasting until one hour after the event ends. A recent FAA notice (JO 7210.960) expands and clarifies how these drone-specific TFRs are applied, reflecting growing concern over unauthorized flights in crowded environments. Despite these measures, restrictions are often ignored, leaving security teams to contend with drones that enter restricted airspace.
Drone threats at stadiums include:
Mass panic if anything dropped over a crowd
Accidental drone crash
Event disruption if a drone flies over the stadium walls
Unauthorized recording during the event or at the practice facilities
Malicious event/attack with a weaponized drone(s)
Critical infrastructure operators face constant pressure to safeguard facilities that, if disrupted, could endanger public health, safety, and economic stability. Despite FAA restrictions and federal laws protecting certain assets, drones remain a growing threat due to their accessibility and ability to bypass traditional ground-based security measures.
Drones can penetrate restricted perimeters, conduct unauthorized surveillance, and deliver payloads directly over sensitive sites. For example, a drone crash near a chemical storage tank or refinery flare stack could cause catastrophic damage, while reconnaissance flights can expose vulnerabilities or confidential intellectual property to competitors.
Drone threats at critical infrastructure include:
Accidental drone crash near volatile materials, causing fire or explosion
Surveillance of plant layouts, security patrols, and weak points
Delivery of hazardous or incendiary payloads
Disruption of power grid operations or utility service continuity
Insider collusion using drones for sabotage or data theft
During emergencies, airspace is a lifeline—used by helicopters, planes, and drones operated by first responders. Unauthorized drones can interrupt these critical operations, putting lives at risk. The FAA establishes TFRs over wildfire zones and disaster sites, but untrained or careless drone operators often ignore them.
There have been collisions between unauthorized drones and first responder flights. As a result, firefighting aircraft battling wildfires have been grounded mid-operation after drones were spotted in the area, delaying containment efforts and putting communities in greater danger. Similarly, unauthorized drones near hospital heliports or in hurricane-damaged regions can obstruct life-saving medical flights and complicate search and rescue missions.
Drone threats in disaster management include:
Grounding of firefighting aircraft during wildfires
Delays to medical evacuations and hospital helicopter landings
Interference with hurricane or storm recovery flights
Unauthorized recording of sensitive or traumatic events
Potential misuse for looting reconnaissance in disaster-hit communities
Drones are often flown at mass gatherings like fairs and protests to get aerial shots and footage of the crowd, which usually ends up online or in the news.
As we saw in 2020, protests can quickly escalate to riots and looting when nefarious participants engage. Drones can be used as “eyes in the sky” to direct.
Drone threats at Mass Gatherings include:
Crowds to where the police are not to avoid confrontation
Angry mobs to where the police are for harassment or attack purposes
Looters to where the police are not
Highly fortified Correctional facilities cannot keep drones out. The FAA restricted airspace over some Federal Bureau of Prison facilities, and several states passed laws specific to drone flight over facilities. However, this doesn’t stop contraband pilots because the potential payout is so high.
Correctional facilities can serve as drug distribution hubs that correlate with local gang activity. Because drone contraband traffic can follow a senior gang leader inmate, a low-drone-traffic facility today may become a high-traffic facility with the transfer of a single inmate. If drone activity isn’t identified quickly enough to respond and prevent an incursion, a facility may go on lockdown which can require a time-consuming and resource-intensive response effort.
Drone threats at prisons include:
Contraband delivery (drugs, weapons, cell phones, tools to assist in inmate escape)
Surveillance to determine staff routines and contraband delivery opportunities
The FAA imposed strict regulations about drone flights near an airport for obvious safety reasons. Still there have been countless close calls between drones and aircrafts. Any time a drone is spotted near an airport, operations are often shut down which can lead to many millions in financial losses.
Drone threats at airports include:
Accidental drone collision with manned aircraft
Malicious event/attack
Corporate campuses safeguard enormous amounts of valuable data and therefore invest heavily in both physical and cybersecurity measures to keep bad actors out. However, most have not accounted for the three-dimensional challenge that drones introduce.
Drone threats at corporate campuses include:
Intellectual property theft through rogue access points dropped onto rooftops
Malicious event/attack on critical infrastructure and high value personnel/customers
Unauthorized camera surveillance into conference rooms or other sensitive areas
DHS recognizes 16 critical infrastructure sectors “whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.” Most if not all of them are vulnerable to drone threats.
Drone threats at other critical infrastructure include:
Accidental drone crash
Intellectual property theft
Unauthorized video posted publicly
Surveillance to identify weaknesses to plan a future attack
Physical attack with weaponized drones
Small, inexpensive drones once viewed mainly as consumer gadgets are now a central part of modern warfare. In Ukraine, both sides are using off-the-shelf and modified drones for reconnaissance, targeting, and even as loitering munitions. Beyond the battlefield, drones also pose significant risks at military bases, where unauthorized or wayward UAVs can collide with manned aircraft, disrupt operations, and compromise safety. Small, inexpensive drones, once viewed mainly as consumer gadgets, are now a central part of modern warfare.
Consumer-grade drone threats in the military include:
Drop hand grenades or IEDs onto troops
Surveil troop locations/movement
Direct insurgents during a conflict
Collision with manned aircraft
These examples cover many of the industries where drones can create challenges, but they’re not the only ones. Any sector that values security, privacy, or continuity of operations could be impacted.
There are a few actions that you can take. One is to book a meeting with one of our drone incursion experts. Another is to subscribe to our blog to get the latest news and events related to drone risk management.