SkySafe, a drone airspace management company, is showcasing its drone detection and airspace security solutions at the 2023 GSX Conference and Expo. SkySafe’s drone solutions allow consumers to both safely pilot authorized drones and keep airspaces secure from threats.
SecurityInfoWatch met with Brooks Davis, Director of Public Safety Sales at SkySafe, to discuss the company’s goals for the conference, as well as its mission to educate industry stakeholders and protect them from potential drone threats. Davis previously served as Public Safety Director at Echodyne and Director of Business Development at Athenix Special Missions.
“SkySafe’s vision is to be the source of truth on aerial drone activity,” says Davis. “Our mission is to champion positive drone usage through airspace security. Our goal for GSX is to connect with leaders in security and educate them on the threat that rogue and nefarious drones pose to their infrastructure, facilities and people.”
As drones continue to see more widespread use, it becomes easier for bad actors to utilize them for unlawful purposes.
Criminals may use drones to deliver contraband to prisons, create drone swarms to obstruct or evade law enforcement, or for reconnaissance purposes through “casing” a home or business for exploitable security vulnerabilities from a distance.
Drone detection, identification and analysis
Security breaches and other airspace threats can also come from inexperienced or unauthorized drone pilots who lack the knowledge or care to make safe, informed decisions about their flights.
“With the cost of commercially available drones coming down in recent years, there has been an increased number of careless, clueless or criminal drone flights,” says Davis. “Without airspace awareness, responding to a malicious drone flight is a matter of luck.”
SkySafe says its solutions are built on a deeper understanding of drone communications. By collecting metadata and feeding it into a specialized database, the company’s cloud-based SaaS platform collects city-wide sensor data that allows for the detection, tracking and analysis of any drone that enters a SkySafe-protected airspace.
The platform also provides users insight into the life cycle of a drone as well as pilot location data and historical flight paths. Additionally, SkySafe Cloud is based on RF technology, allowing for the collection of several data points, including identification information unique to the drone being tracked.
SkySafe Cloud alerts users to the presence of unwanted drones in real-time and the location of the operator so legally allowed countermeasures can be taken.
Drone forensic analysis
Another major aspect of the company’s mission lies in drone forensics. SkySafe is the sole provider of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capabilities for Canada’s Covert Forensic Imaging Device (CFID) and is thus able to provide unique insight into UAS forensics, the company says.
To this end, SkySafe launched a new drone forensics certification course. The Applied UAS Forensics Certification Course helps law enforcement and other forensic professionals learn the skills they need to conduct forensic investigation and analysis on commercial drones.
Students learn about the history of drone flight and its practical applications, alongside increasing familiarity with CFID and the rest of the drone forensics curriculum. Courses are available both virtually and at SkySafe’s headquarters, and the issued Drone Forensic Examiner Certification (CDFE) is valid for two years after course completion.
“Our goal is to go beyond just teaching students about the popular tools for data extraction and analysis,” Davis says. “We want to instead provide examiners and analysts with the key skills needed to become subject matter experts in this discipline and obtain a SkySafe certification to back that up.”
Learn more about SkySafe’s drone detection solutions and SkySafe’s drone forensics certification program here, or meet with SkySafe’s drone forensics and detection pioneers at GSX booth 2311.
