{"id":2079,"date":"2022-03-23T15:10:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T15:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/23\/dji-drones-ukraine-and-russia-what-we-know-about-aeroscope\/"},"modified":"2022-03-23T15:10:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T15:10:53","slug":"dji-drones-ukraine-and-russia-what-we-know-about-aeroscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/23\/dji-drones-ukraine-and-russia-what-we-know-about-aeroscope\/","title":{"rendered":"DJI drones, Ukraine, and Russia \u2014 what we know about AeroScope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22985101\/dji-aeroscope-ukraine-russia-drone-tracking<\/a>
\n
<\/br><\/code><\/p>\n

\n

Last week, Ukraine accused DJI \u2014 the world\u2019s leading drone maker \u2014 of letting Russia target innocent civilians with missiles using DJI drone technology. \u201cAre you sure you want to be a partner in these murders?\u201d tweeted Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov<\/a> last Wednesday. \u201cBlock your products that are helping Russia to kill the Ukrainians!\u201d <\/p>\n

Reading those words, you might imagine DJI is now shipping killer drones to Russia or perhaps that Russia is using DJI drones as spotters for separate missile systems of its own. But that\u2019s not even remotely<\/em> what Ukraine\u2019s request is about. It\u2019s actually about DJI AeroScope, a system for locating drones and their operators \u2014 which Russia is now allegedly using to find Ukrainian drone pilots and wipe them out. <\/p>\n

DJI AeroScope was originally designed for public safety: if a rogue DJI drone gets near an airport runway, a stadium full of people, or, say, a political rally, law enforcement can warn people and find those drones. As part of the AeroScope system, every DJI drone broadcasts an encrypted signal that specialized receivers can use to decipher the drone\u2019s position and the position of its pilot. If police need to monitor DJI drone activity in an area and track down their pilots, it\u2019s as simple as planting a receiver and monitoring the signals.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

In 21 days of the war, russian troops has already killed 100 Ukrainian children. they are using DJI products in order to navigate their missile. @DJIGlobal<\/a> are you sure you want to be a partner in these murders? Block your products that are helping russia to kill the Ukrainians! pic.twitter.com\/4HJcTXFxoY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 16, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Even in peacetime, that idea might sound a little bit risky: what if a bad actor gets access to an AeroScope receiver and goes around harassing, assaulting, or stealing from people whose eyes legally have to be glued to their drones<\/a> in the sky? That\u2019s why DJI says they\u2019re only sold to valid law enforcement and security agencies. <\/p>\n

But DJI didn\u2019t plan for what might happen when a valid buyer pairs them with a guided missile battery in wartime. Now that Ukrainian civilians and their consumer-grade drones have been enlisted to defend against the Russian army<\/a>, a deadly and possibly unforeseen consequence of Aeroscope may have emerged. If Aeroscope lets the Russian military know exactly where a Ukrainian drone pilot is standing, Russians could use that information to target an aerial strike at the pilot.<\/p>\n

Importantly, we haven\u2019t found any confirmed reports that\u2019s actually happening, even if that\u2019s the story that\u2019s spreading around parts of the internet (often paired with footage of this drone pilot seemingly surviving a near miss<\/a>). But DJI has confirmed that some of Ukraine\u2019s AeroScope receivers weren\u2019t working properly, and Fedorov is now asking DJI to block Russia\u2019s DJI gear. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s likely a non-starter because DJI is a Chinese company, and China is broadly aligned with Russia, not Ukraine \u2014 to the point that US officials now believe China might actually provide Russia with assistance<\/a> instead of staying neutral. DJI is reportedly funded by the Chinese government<\/a> and has been repeatedly sanctioned by the United States; most recently<\/a>, the US Treasury named it one of eight \u201cNon-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies,\u201d and the USA has repeatedly accused it of helping China surveil its Uyghur population with drones. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything we know about AeroScope, after chatting with DJI spokesperson Adam Lisberg; drone forensics expert David Kovar<\/a>; Brandon Lugo, director of operations at Aerial Armor<\/a>, a prominent Aeroscope dealer in the US; and Taras Troiak, a DJI reseller who ran multiple authorized DJI stores in Ukraine<\/a> and serves as administrator of the 15,000-strong Ukrainian UAV Owners Fan Club<\/a>, which claims that some of its pilots have been targeted by Russian airstrikes and even killed.<\/p>\n

What is DJI AeroScope, and how does it work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are two main elements to the AeroScope system:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. An encrypted signal, automatically broadcast by every DJI drone sold since 2017, that provides the drone\u2019s position, altitude, speed, direction, serial number, and the location of the pilot<\/li>\n
  2. The receivers that can pick up those signals up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) away<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    DJI primarily sells two different types of receivers: a short-range football of a \u201cPortable Unit\u201d with its own clamshell case, screen, antennas and batteries, and a long-range \u201cStationary Unit\u201d that\u2019s designed to jack into a giant omnidirectional outdoor antenna and needs to connect to a server via an Ethernet cable or cellular modem. <\/p>\n

    \n
    \n <\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n\"\"<\/p>\n

    <\/source><\/picture>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    How DJI Aeroscope works, in a nutshell.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: DJI<\/cite><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    There are multiple ways to set up a Stationary Unit, too: transmitting data to DJI\u2019s public servers (hosted by Amazon\u2019s AWS), to an owner\u2019s private cloud, or even an offline server for security. No internet is technically required, says Aerial Armor\u2019s Lugo, and the Portable Unit doesn\u2019t even have the option. \u201cYou open the little Pelican case, you sit there, you monitor all the data locally,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Ethernet port doesn\u2019t even enable any sort of connectivity; it\u2019s for programming only.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The Portable Unit only has a tenth of the quoted range of the Stationary Unit at 5 kilometers, but that 50km number is a stretch. In practice, DJI\u2019s Lisberg says that 50 kilometers is \u201cthe upper bound of what I\u2019ve heard, on a clear day with no solar flares, a totally rocking antenna, at the edge of the desert or something.\u201d Lugo points out that smaller drones like the DJI Spark transmit more weakly, too, but that even in an urban environment, you should be able to spot a small drone a couple miles away with an AeroScope receiver.<\/p>\n

    Prices seem to vary a lot: Lugo says he\u2019s seen the Portable Unit going for $10,000 and a medium-range G8 Stationary kit sold anywhere between $25,000 and $150,000. DJI, meanwhile, says it should cost under $10,000 for a full installation. <\/p>\n

    Wait, are you telling me that every DJI drone is quietly broadcasting <\/strong>my<\/strong><\/em> position, not just my drone\u2019s position, to anyone who buys one of these gadgets?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Yes. \u201cIt\u2019s essentially a system where the user of the drone is signing a EULA acknowledging that my information will be made available,\u201d says Kovar. <\/p>\n

    But it\u2019s encrypted, and the decryption hardware is theoretically only sold to the good guys. \u201cSince the start, we\u2019ve made clear to all our dealers and distributors that Aeroscopes can only be sold to legitimate operators, police and security forces,\u201d says Lisberg. \u201cWe hear reports now and then of a billionaire who gets one to watch their yacht or something, but by and large, those are the people using AeroScopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Does Russia have a third, military version of the AeroScope receiver with longer range than Ukraine? <\/strong><\/p>\n

    That\u2019s what Troiak tells me explicitly, and Vice PM Fedorov seemingly implies it in his letter to DJI, too. \u201cThe Russian army uses an extended version of DJI Aeroscope which were taken from Syria,\u201d writes Fedorov. \u201cThe distance is up to 50 km.\u201d <\/p>\n

    \n
    \n <\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n\"\"<\/p>\n

    <\/source><\/picture>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    The long-range DJI Aeroscope G16 has four Stationary Units and a giant cylindrical antenna array.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: DJI<\/cite><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    But again, 50 kilometers is the same range that DJI already quotes for its Stationary Unit \u2014 when the right antennas are attached \u2014 and DJI\u2019s Lisberg says he\u2019s never heard of a longer-range military version. <\/p>\n

    One thing that\u2019s not in dispute: both Ukraine and Russia have access to AeroScope receivers, including the long-range Stationary versions. <\/p>\n

    Did DJI disable or weaken Ukraine\u2019s AeroScope receivers, then? <\/strong><\/p>\n

    That\u2019s been another accusation out of Ukraine<\/a>, but the evidence is shaky at best. Troiak \u2014 the DJI reseller who appears to be acting as middleman between their operators and DJI, trying to get them fixed \u2014 showed me screenshots of an email conversation that allegedly depicts several AeroScope receivers stationed at nuclear power plants mysteriously going offline after Russia invaded Ukraine. But Troiak could not provide better evidence, suggesting his sources might be killed or jailed if he put them in touch, and Vice PM Fedorov\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n

    While DJI does confirm that some of Ukraine\u2019s AeroScope receivers went offline, it vehemently denies that the company had anything to do with it. <\/p>\n

    \u201cAll allegations that DJI has deliberately adjusted the functionality of AeroScope to help some parties or hurt other parties are absolutely, thoroughly false,\u201d Lisberg tells The Verge<\/em>, suggesting they might have been down because of power or internet outages instead. \u201cNobody credible has alleged that the technical problems we\u2019ve been having with AeroScopes are anything other than technical problems.\u201d <\/p>\n

    And both Troiak and Lisberg agree that DJI has already helped bring some of Ukraine\u2019s non-working AeroScope receivers back online. \u201cOthers, we have not been able to diagnose or fix, but we continue to work with their operators,\u201d DJI\u2019s Lisberg says.<\/p>\n

    Why can\u2019t DJI or Ukraine just shut off the Aeroscope signals so pilots aren\u2019t targeted? <\/strong><\/p>\n

    First off, this isn\u2019t something that DJI can switch off over the internet \u2014 the drones themselves are broadcasting the AeroScope signals locally <\/em>over standard 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies to any nearby receiver that\u2019s listening. They\u2019re not being sent over the internet.<\/p>\n

    And DJI says drone owners can\u2019t turn them off either. \u201cThis is all encoded in a data packet that\u2019s part of the same data transmission you can use to command and control the drones,\u201d says Lisberg. \u201cYou cannot shut that off without also losing control of the drone.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n <\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n\"dji<\/p>\n

    <\/source><\/picture>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    Even some of DJI\u2019s Phantom 3 drones are listed as compatible with Aeroscope.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    All that said, AeroScope was <\/em>retroactively added to some early DJI drones as a firmware update, so I imagine it\u2019s theoretically possible a new firmware update could turn it off again. But that might defeat the public safety purpose of AeroScope since DJI can\u2019t guarantee only resistance fighters would receive the firmware. It could allow bad actors to cloak their drones as well. <\/p>\n

    But perhaps just as importantly, Ukraine isn\u2019t actually asking DJI to shut off the AeroScope signals \u2014 remember, Ukraine is using AeroScope receivers as well, <\/em>and it wants them turned on<\/em>. <\/p>\n

    So what is Ukraine actually asking for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Vice PM Fedorov wants DJI to cough up information about every DJI product in Ukraine \u2014 including where they were purchased and a map of their locations \u2014 and to explicitly block DJI products from functioning if they came from Russia, Syria and Lebanon. <\/p>\n

    Does DJI actually have that map of where its products are? <\/strong><\/p>\n

    The company says no. \u201cWe have no way of tracking where an AeroScope is,\u201d says Lisberg. \u201cWe sell mostly through distributors, which sell to dealers, which sell to the public… there\u2019s a big gap between the information people think we have on our users and what we actually have on our users,\u201d he adds, when I ask if DJI might at least have sales data on its drones. <\/p>\n

    Aerial Armor\u2019s Lugo backs that up. \u201cThey don\u2019t have immediate visibility, if any, into the clients we sell to… they might know we have an NFL stadium, but they don\u2019t know which one or where it\u2019s at.\u201d <\/p>\n

    \n
    \n <\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n\"\"<\/p>\n

    <\/source><\/picture>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    The DJI Aeroscope Portable Unit.<\/em><\/figcaption>Photo by Vjeran Pavic \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

    Can\u2019t DJI see the positions of the drones? Isn\u2019t it tracking flight data too?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    That was the theory in 2017, but DJI says it\u2019s not happening at all.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI was one of the people five years ago or so who was accusing them of doing that, and at the time, they might well have been. There were strong indications that telemetry data was flowing off of the drone and through the app to some domains, likely controlled by DJI,\u201d says Kovar, the drone forensics expert.<\/p>\n

    The short version: in 2017, a hacker named Kevin Finisterre discovered that DJI had left some of its Amazon AWS cloud data publicly accessible, with Ars Technica<\/em> writing<\/a> that it included \u201cflight logs from accounts associated with government and military domains.\u201d That\u2019s when the US Army got suspicious and began to ground<\/a> its own DJI drones.<\/p>\n

    \n