Drones allow you to capture breathtaking landscapes, deliver packages (but not at the Russian Post yet), are used to patrol the area, and perform many other useful functions. However, because this revolutionary product changes our lives, it can pose a threat if used for the wrong purposes. After all, criminals are among the first to adopt new technologies.
Here top 10 crimes involving drones.
10. Shooting the ATM keyboard
When you go to an ATM to withdraw money, make sure that no one is prying as you enter your personal identification number (PIN). However, you are unlikely to be looking at the sky.
In August 2016, a drone filming people standing near an ATM was seen in Templepatrick, Northern Ireland. Perhaps the drone was watching people enter the PIN. As soon as someone noticed that the drone had misplaced the camera, the device flew away and collided with a nearby taxi. Although the man suspected of operating the drone was forced to pay the taxi owner for damages, the police were unable to prove that the video was conducted with criminal intent.
9. Delivering drugs to Ohio jail
Instead of trying to smuggle drugs, one of the inmate's buddies put 7 grams of heroin, 57 grams of marijuana and 142 grams of tobacco on a drone and sent it flying over the walls of a correctional facility in Mansfield, Ohio.
As soon as the drone dropped drugs, a fight broke out between the prisoners for "gifts". Prison officials managed to cope with the riots, but had to search almost 200 prisoners to find drugs. And nine prisoners, who were the instigators of the fight, were placed in solitary confinement.
8. Delivery of weapons to the Oklahoma prison
Another criminal group took note of the mentioned incident at the Ohio State Prison. However, she expanded the “delivery range” to include a cell phone, hacksaws, drugs and super glue. The criminals tied the whole thing to a drone with a fishing line so that the contraband could be easily pulled out. Unfortunately for the intruders, the drone caught on the barbed wire of the prison walls and collapsed, forcing the inmates to fight for its luggage until the prison staff intervened.
The broken unmanned vehicle went to the police as evidence. But it is not known whether anyone was detained for this incident.
7. Hacking
To catch a hacker, you have to think like a hacker. Fran Brown and David Latimer of Bishop Fox (a security consulting firm) have developed unmanned access to various types of Wi-Fi networks. This type of hacking has been called Danger Drone and is a Raspberry Pi computer strapped to the body of a drone. The computer is equipped with hacking software and has a range of 1.6 kilometers. It uses conventional radio control for manipulation, but can be configured to receive signals using cell towers.For example, a Danger Drone can "roll" vulnerable Chromecast devices. This is the equivalent of a secret TV channel change.
6. Military action
The militants of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (banned on the territory of Russia) have at their disposal hundreds of inexpensive portable unmanned aerial vehicles. These devices were used to conduct hostilities in Iraq and Syria. When the ISIS bastion in Mosul was taken in 2017, Iraqi forces found many drone factories.
The militants made two types of drones. One could drop a small explosive weight, and the other exploded when approaching the target. Some drones that dropped explosives also filmed the action.
Other terrorist groups, such as Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, have also adopted drones, but on a relatively limited scale.
5. Burglary
In June 2018, for four days in a row, a drone was spotted over a village in Cambridgeshire, England. A few days later, a local resident's home was robbed. The thieves knew the best entry point for sure, as they managed to easily sneak through the bathroom window and ransack the home. However, the police were unable to link the drone sightings to the burglary.
4. Flying over a restricted area
In 2017, nearly 250 unregistered unmanned aerial vehicles were recorded at airports around the world. This poses a serious hazard to large aircraft, as drones can get caught in the engine or fly through cockpit windows, which could injure or even kill pilots.
The Federal Air Transport Agency plans to place special equipment around airports in order to forcibly land drones that have penetrated into their forbidden territory. So far, however, there are no special units at Russian airfields to combat illegal unmanned aerial vehicles.
3. Obstruction of the release of hostages
In third place in the list of crimes committed using drones is the story that happened in 2017. A team of FBI agents were planning a hostage rescue operation in one of the American cities. While the entire rescue team was on the observation post to assess the situation, a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles flew up to them. Not only were the criminals awaiting the arrival of the FBI, the cameras that were attached to the drones were constantly streaming videos of the agents on YouTube.
Criminals also use drones to identify potential informants visiting police stations.
2. Voyeurism
In 2017, a peeping drone was "caught" in Utah.
John Henson was getting ready for work. When he got out of the shower, he heard a drone buzzing outside the bathroom window. When the man opened the window, the drone flew away. However, John pursued him until the drone landed in a parking lot near the church. Henson grabbed the device and called the police.
The officers found that the red lights on the drone were taped over so that it could fly unseen in the dark. They examined the camera footage and discovered that the drone was filming someone else's private life.
The police were able to track down two drone owners and accused them of voyeurism.
1. Attempt on the President of Venezuela
On August 4, during a military parade in Caracas, attackers attempted to kill Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The assassination attempt was carried out with the help of drones equipped with C4 explosives. At least one of the drones was shot down by a sniper, and the guards covered their ward with bulletproof shields.
In a televised address to the nation, Maduro said that the blame for the assassination lies with the Colombian authorities, and personally with Colombian President Juan Manuele Santos. However, he did not give evidence of their guilt. So far, a little-known group called the National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts has claimed responsibility for the drone attack.