According to the results of the survey conducted by Kaspersky Business Digitization in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region in the summer of 2023, 53 percent of employees in the region are afraid of drone espionage.
In Turkey, this rate is determined as 48 percent. Corporate spies and hackers can use drones to retrieve trade secrets, confidential information, and other sensitive data from companies and data centers. They may carry a special device to infiltrate corporate networks. With drones carrying a phone, a small computer (e.g., Raspberry Pi), or a jammer (e.g., Wi-Fi Pineapple), hackers can use these devices to access corporate data and disrupt communications. All wireless communications (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, etc.) may be vulnerable to drone attacks.
Drones can take cyber espionage to a new level because they can access data channels that a traditional off-site hacker cannot obtain. Drone espionage threat concerns are most frequently voiced by survey participants in the IT, manufacturing and energy fields. 62 percent of employees in Turkey say that it would be useful to install drone detection systems to protect their companies from espionage.
Systems used to detect, classify and mitigate drones are called counter-drone technology. These systems use a broad combination of sensors, including radars, radio frequency analyzers, cameras, lidars, jammers and other sensors to monitor and analyze drone activity.
Overall, 61 percent of employees fear cyber espionage in their industry. The most frequently expressed concerns about espionage are that it can cause organizations to lose money (32 percent), intellectual property (21 percent) and damage their business reputation (30 percent).
At this point, threat intelligence plays a crucial role in combating cyber espionage by providing actionable insights and proactive measures. They continuously monitor corporate IT systems for signs of espionage-related activities, such as reconnaissance and data leakage, and identify threat actors. Threat intelligence provides experts with IP addresses, malware signatures, and behavioral patterns that enable cybersecurity teams to detect and block espionage-related attacks in real time.
İlkem Özar, General Manager of Kaspersky Türkiye, said: “Our research shows that most business representatives understand the dangers of cyber espionage. Learning about the tactics, techniques and procedures used by cyber spies helps organizations adapt their defenses and develop countermeasures to effectively thwart these tactics. Cyber espionage is often carried out through phishing, malware, exploits and targeted attacks. However, today we also need to take into account the threat of drone espionage. As Kaspersky, we offer organizations solutions to counter both traditional cyber espionage methods and new methods such as espionage from drones. Kaspersky Threat Intelligence helps organizations increase their awareness and knowledge of high-profile cyber espionage campaigns with comprehensive and practical reporting. Kaspersky Antidrone, on the other hand, collects all drone-related information in a single web interface and detects, classifies and reduces the effects of unwanted objects in the air. “The solution allows monitoring the airspace of the controlled area in automatic mode.”
Kaspersky recommends the following to organizations to protect themselves from espionage: ”Update software and drivers on all enterprise IT systems. Assess the risks facing the company's digital systems with Kaspersky Threat Intelligence. Train your employees to minimize the possibility of spear phishing attacks. Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform will provide employees with the information necessary to counter social engineering attack attempts. For comprehensive protection against sophisticated and targeted attacks, use a comprehensive cybersecurity solution such as Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack (KATA) Platform, powered by advanced threat intelligence and paired with the MITER ATT&CK framework. Outsource cybersecurity auditing with Kaspersky MDR to get additional protection and expertise from a team of professionals. Use Kaspersky Antidrone to counter the threat of aerial espionage.”