Drone Technology Cybersecurity and Information Systems

IS and Cybersecurity Considerations for Use of Drones in an Organizational Supply/Value Chain

Drones use information systems components in their automation, understand supply chain management, and highly rely on the internet and network. First, drones raise security concerns about whether they can be used to perform criminal activities since they are small in size, affordable, and are easy to move. The second consideration is privacy, which can be physical, locational, and behavioral in supply chain management. Maintaining confidentiality is important; thus, drones open new threats to secrecy as they can be used to spy and collect videos and images that may be used against an organization.

The safety concern is an important factor to consider and arises due to malfunctioning. Drone technology has been an emerging technology that has not been well-developed, and sometimes, it may lose control and cause some damages and losses (Yaacoub & Salman, 2020). There are several factors as to why there is no guarantee of safety. One of them is the design of drones which lacks a safety feature; thus, full control is not guaranteed. Drones do not have standards on technology and operations that are related to crash avoidance mechanisms. Signal distortion is another factor; drones are prone to attacks like hacking. Finally, countries lack enough regulations in governing the commercial uses of drones.

Drone Usage in Public and Private Organizations

The application of drones ranges from private to public use. Some of the applications include the emergence of medicine in both legal and practical aspects of mining industries, agricultural sectors, and the military. According to Konert et al., 2019, drones are applied in medicine through rescue operations as they can function at low altitudes and save lives. For example, the application of thermal emerging cameras by a Canadian police officer identified a man in a car wreck, and the rescue team could reach him (Konert et al., 2019). Moreover, in Switzerland, two hospitals used drones in delivering blood samples and analysis materials (Konert et al., 2019). This operation marked the first application of drones in medical settings.

The Polish Air Force Institute of Technology has created a drone called AtraxM. This drone is said to send information to the rescue team to identify the place of the accident, the number of victims in the accident, and the scale of the accident even before the main rescue team arrives (Konert et al., 2019). More advancements are being made in drone technology and increasing automation in the field of medicine.

Moreover, the use of drones has gone as far as in the mining industry. Findings by Shahmoradi et al. (2020) show that the two main advantages of using drones in this field include the use of specialized ones fitted with sensors, which can inspect an area during an emergency or identify hazards. The second advantage is that they can be used in the inspection and unblocking of locked box-holes, and also in the ore passes process. In surface mining, drones can be applied in monitoring, mapping, and surveying. This method is preferred over the traditional one because it cost saving.

Also, in-ground mining challenges occur due to reasons such as reduced visibility and dust concentration. Still, drones can access the unreachable area in underground mines. Other drone applications in this sector include detection of gas in underground coal mines, rescue missions through a combination of technology, and unmanned ground vehicles. Lastly, drones are more applicable in abandoned mines in mapping and monitoring, making them more cost-effective than other methods.

In the military, drones have widely been used as they are unmanned, meaning there are pilotless. This feature makes them more advantageous over manned aerial vehicles. The military pioneered the use of drones where they operated them in spying on the enemy and were able to plan an attack (Kozera, 2018). Drones were also utilized in attacks and proved to be more efficient as they posed no risk to the lives of soldiers. Today, technology drones are more advanced and are being used to conduct sophisticated missions.

In earlier years drones were associated with the military, making it difficult for organizations to invest in the product. Today the application of drones is on the increase as the world gets autonomous; thus, the drone market is expanding each day. Business organizations like Amazon, Google, and others need to keep up with the changing technology (Atwater, 2015). The company is working on drone technology to deliver products to consumers. In countries such as Austria, drone technology has successfully been utilized in delivery in the past two years.

In the entertainment industry, drones have been greatly used to replace the old methods. Every day,