Problem Statement: The Need for Secure and Resilient Drone Communication

As drones gather and transmit increasingly sensitive data, securing this communication channel becomes vital. Typical wireless transmissions over 2.4GHz can be intercepted, putting data privacy and integrity at risk. Additionally, drones are susceptible to DDoS attacks that disrupt communication, impacting mission-critical operations. Traditional network-based encryption relies on cloud infrastructure or specialized routers, which complicates secure deployment and can introduce latency. Thus, there’s a need for a secure, resilient communication solution that doesn’t depend on external routers or cloud compatibility, and offers robust data protection from end to end.

Solution Overview: Pantherun’s FPGA-Based AES Encryption for Drones

Pantherun’s FPGA-based AES encryption provides a powerful, lightweight, and highly secure solution for drone communications. By implementing this encryption directly on the drone controller and drone hardware, and utilizing a software-based approach on the video server, Pantherun offers an end-to-end security framework designed to meet the specific needs of drone applications.

Key Features of Pantherun’s Solution

• End-to-End Encryption: AES encryption is built directly into the drone controller and drone, ensuring that data is encrypted from the moment it leaves the controller until it reaches the video server.
• Secure Key Exchange: Pantherun’s patented key exchange system enables secure communication without the need for pre-established keys, reducing risks associated with key management and simplifying the encryption process.
• DDoS Attack Resilience: The encryption framework prevents unauthorized access, eliminating the possibility of a DDoS attack that could disable the communication between the drone and its controller or video server.
• Cloud- and Router-Agnostic Security: Encrypted data can pass through untrusted routers or cloud storage without needing specialized infrastructure, and only authorized devices with Pantherun’s decryption capability can access the data.

Detailed Workflow

Drone Controller to Drone Communication

• Secure Command Transmission: Commands from the drone controller are encrypted using Pantherun’s FPGA-based AES solution. This ensures that each command is securely transmitted over a 2.4GHz long-range wireless link, protecting the communication from interception.
• Real-Time Data Integrity: The controller continuously encrypts real-time command data, allowing the drone to execute commands without delay or lag.
• DDoS Prevention: Pantherun’s encryption framework only recognizes and decrypts messages from authorized controllers. Any unauthorized signals or repeated requests are automatically ignored, thus preventing DDoS attacks.

Drone to Video Server Communication

• Secure Video Streaming: The drone captures video footage and encrypts it in real-time using the FPGA-based AES encryption, transmitting it securely to the video server over the 2.4GHz wireless network.
• Keyless Encryption: Pantherun’s patented secure key exchange system allows encrypted data to be seamlessly transmitted to the video server without requiring key exchange over the network. This eliminates vulnerabilities in traditional key management processes.
• Router and Cloud Independence: The encrypted video stream can pass through any intermediate router or cloud storage without requiring specialized encryption support. The data remains encrypted end-to-end and can only be decrypted by the authorized video server.

Data Storage and Security on the Video Server

• Software-Based Decryption: The video server employs Pantherun’s AES decryption as a pure software solution, eliminating the need for additional hardware while still benefiting from the secure, low-latency decryption that is crucial for storing high-quality video data.
• End-to-End Data Protection: Only the video server, which has been authorized by Pantherun’s encryption protocol, can decrypt the data. This ensures that even if the data resides on the cloud or is intercepted during transmission, it remains secure and unreadable by unauthorized parties.

Advantages of Pantherun’s Solution

Comprehensive Security: Pantherun’s FPGA-based AES encryption ensures that the drone controller, drone, and video server are all protected, making it impossible for unauthorized entities to access or manipulate the data.

Efficient and High-Performance: By using hardware-optimized encryption on the drone and controller, Pantherun’s solution offers minimal latency, preserving real-time communication and video quality.

Reduced Infrastructure Dependence: Unlike traditional security systems that rely on compatible routers or cloud services, Pantherun’s encryption can operate independently. Data can pass through untrusted networks without losing security, as only the authorized video server can decrypt the video.

Resilience Against Attacks: With secure key exchange, robust encryption, and automatic filtering of unauthorized commands, Pantherun’s technology is resistant to DDoS and other interference-based attacks, ensuring a secure, uninterrupted connection.

Cost-Effective and Scalable: By implementing software-based decryption on the video server, Pantherun’s solution reduces hardware requirements and scales easily with cloud or on-premises infrastructure.

Real-World Applications

Pantherun’s solution is ideal for industries where secure, resilient communication is essential. Examples include:

• Defense: Drones used for surveillance and reconnaissance can securely transmit video feeds and commands, even over potentially unsecured networks.
• Agriculture: Autonomous drones conducting crop monitoring and data collection can securely relay information back to servers for analysis, regardless of the network infrastructure.
• Industrial Inspection: Drones inspecting critical infrastructure (pipelines, bridges, etc.) can transmit data securely, ensuring it remains private and free from tampering.

Pantherun’s FPGA-based AES encryption provides a robust solution for secure, end-to-end communication in drone applications. By embedding encryption directly within the drone and controller hardware and utilizing software-based decryption on the video server, Pantherun achieves true end-to-end protection without reliance on specialized infrastructure. With this approach, data can traverse untrusted networks or cloud environments, remaining encrypted and inaccessible to unauthorized users.

This use case demonstrates Pantherun’s commitment to innovation, security, and adaptability in the field of embedded systems and wireless communication. By eliminating vulnerabilities and ensuring data integrity and privacy, Pantherun enables a new standard of secure communication for drones and other remote systems.

About Pantherun

Pantherun is a cyber security innovator with a patent pending approach to data protection, that transforms security by making encryption possible in real-time, while making breach of security 10X harder compared to existing global solutions, at better performance and price.