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from the these-are-not-the-drones-you-are-looking-for dept.
The United States Interior Department is grounding its fleet of more than 800 drones over concerns that the Chinese is using the devices to spy or facilitate cyberattacks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
There have been growing concerns among military and Homeland Security officials that the UAVs, which are made in China or consist of Chinese-made parts, are gathering sensitive information for the Chinese government.
[...] DJI told Gizmodo in a statement that the company is "disappointed to learn of this development," adding that it has "worked with the Department of Interior to create a safe and secure drone solution that meets their rigorous requirements, which was developed over the course of 15 months with DOI officials, independent cybersecurity professionals, and experts at NASA."
[...] Last month a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill aiming to block federal agencies from purchasing UAVs from China. "China has stolen sensitive drone technology from America's businesses and military for years, and now sells it back to us from a dominant position in the commercial drone market," said one of the bill's sponsors, Senator Tom Cotton, said in a statement at the time. "Relying on drones made by our adversaries is a clear risk to our national security."
US Interior Department Grounds Drone Fleet
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday November 01 2019, @09:24AM (1 child)
800 commercial drones. Over $USD 1 million, but nowhere near a big enough budget for custom firmware, let alone custom drones.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Friday November 01 2019, @01:23PM
betaflight, inav, pixhawk firmware, pick what you want from FREE open source software and firmware. audit all you like.
why the fuck do we buy chinese products with THEIR firmware? that's just plain dumb. its not like there isn't already FOSS stuff that does all you'd need (manual control, full mission control, racing style, you name it).
DJI sucks as a company. a friend bought a nice expensive dji with a hasselblad camera on it. it wouldn't lift off, at work (we're too close to san jose, meaning, airport). its geo list had a 'do not fly' feature in it and the only way we could be sure was to take it inside, block its gps and then it would lift off. nearly $2k drone and you have to play by ITS rules.
my drones use flight controllers that are $50 F4 arm, all open source; base station transmitter is open-tx (yes, foss, too). all auditable. no 'no fly zones' built in. and if any creep in, you can use your own firmware; nothing is forced for upgrades!
puzzles me why, if I know this (and I'm no pro), why THEY don't know this. something seems amiss, to me. only clueless amateurs buy DJI and that's the main problem brand. if you roll your own, there are no worries, period!
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