Cited by 268UAV Applications and OptimizationAir Traffic Management and OptimizationMilitary Technology and Strategies

Defending Airports from UAS: A Survey on Cyber-Attacks and Counter-Drone Sensing Technologies

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Lykou, Georgia, Moustakas, Dimitrios, Gritzalis, Dimitris·2020·Sensors

Abstract

As the fastest growing segment of aviation, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) continue to increase in number, technical complexity and capabilities. Numerous civilian and commercial uses are drastically transforming civil protection, asset delivery, commercial and entertaining activities. However, UAS pose significant challenges in terms of safety, security and privacy within society. An increasing phenomenon, nowadays, is drone-related incidents near airport facilities, which are expected to proliferate in frequency, complexity and severity, as drones become larger and more powerful. Critical infrastructures need to be protected from such aerial attacks, through effective counteracting technologies, risk management and resilience plans. In this paper, we present a survey of drone incidents near airports and a literature review of sensor technologies, able to prevent, detect, identify and mitigate rogue drones. We exhibit the benefits and limitations of available counter-drone technologies (C-UAS); however, defending airports against misused drone activity is a hard problem. Therefore, we analyze three realistic attack scenarios from malicious drones and propose an effective C-UAS protection plan for each case. We discuss applicability limitations of C-UAS in the aviation context and propose a resilience action plan for airport stakeholders for defending against airborne threats from misused drones.

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  • Counter-drone technology is widely under study, which for example enables configuration of guarded areas to either permit or block drones.

    “To prevent those misuses as in [150-154], counter-drone technology is widely under study, which for example, enables the configuration of guarded areas to either permit or block drones.”

    From A Survey of Video Surveillance Systems in Smart City (2023) · cites this paper as [151]

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Authors
Lykou, G., Moustakas, D., & Gritzalis, D.
Affiliations
Athens University of Economics and Business (GR)
Corresponding author
Gritzalis, Dimitris
Venue
Sensors
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-06-22
Volume
20
Issue
12
Pages
3537
ISSN
1424-8220 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3036046236
Cited by
268
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 7
FWCI
3.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sensors (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › UAV Applications and Optimization
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Air Traffic Management and Optimization
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Military Technology and Strategies
Keywords
counter-UAS, unmanned aerial systems, airports, drone detection, drone identification, cyberattacks, critical infrastructure protection, attack scenarios, resilience planning, aviation security

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