DJI upto no good again

Steve1966 · Nov 30, 2017

Popular Drone Maker DJI May Be Sending Customer Videos To The Chinese Government
Popular Drone Maker DJI May Be Sending Customer Videos To The Chinese Government

Hollow Dog · Nov 30, 2017

Steve1966 said:
Popular Drone Maker DJI May Be Sending Customer Videos To The Chinese Government
Popular Drone Maker DJI May Be Sending Customer Videos To The Chinese Government

Let's hope they don't discover Google Maps.
Or remember that they have billion dollar spy satellites.
This stinks of fake news.

Roelf Bruinsma · Nov 30, 2017

@Hollow Dog , you might just have a good point there my friend.

Green County UAV · Nov 30, 2017

Unfortunately it seems more than plausible that they can and do use our customer data to their advantage. IMO.

FlyGuy8675309 · Nov 30, 2017

This part I don't get:
"As of May 2017, DJI was attempting to add satellite communications to their UAS so operators were not reliant on cellular towers for the control stations. Satellite communications would allow real-time transmissions of information in rural areas or areas without adequate cellular towers."

Do any DJI products operate using cell signals?

guest1231 · Nov 30, 2017

Hollow Dog said:
Let's hope they don't discover Google Maps.
Or remember that they have billion dollar spy satellites.
This stinks of fake news.

Actually, it’s a legitimate story by a bona fide publication citing sources and a known author, a far cry from fictional propaganda or deliberate misinformation written by bots or trolls. You can certainly argue that warnings by I.C.E. and the U.S. Army are overreactions, misguided or easily proven wrong — but fake news? Not his time.

locoman · Nov 30, 2017

FlyGuy8675309 said:
This part I don't get:
"As of May 2017, DJI was attempting to add satellite communications to their UAS so operators were not reliant on cellular towers for the control stations. Satellite communications would allow real-time transmissions of information in rural areas or areas without adequate cellular towers."

Do any DJI products operate using cell signals?

Don't think so, and actually DJI recommends you put the phone in Airplane Mode while flying, so there would be no cellular transmissions.

Also, It wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese Government hacked into the DJI servers without DJI's knowledge or permission to gleam what ever information they can.

Also, any photo we post on the internet can be taken and used without us knowing it. weather it is FB, twitter, photo on line store sites, what ever. Once you put it out there, you no longer have control of it.

Cyberpower678 · Nov 30, 2017

Once it's online, any can see it. It's no different than YouTube IMO. I don't upload my videos.

TimesTen · Nov 30, 2017

Homeland Security is not the most respected Agency for cyber security.

This is our tax dollars at work ..... the stupidity.

OMG they need to worry about rocket man.

(U//LES) Furthermore, the Chinese government is likely using information acquired from DJI systems as a way to target assets they are planning to purchase. For instance, a large family- owned wine producer in California purchased DJI UAS to survey its vineyards and monitor grape production. Soon afterwards, Chinese companies began purchasing vineyards in the same area. According to the SOI, it appeared the companies were able to use DJI data to their own benefit and profit.

Homeland Security claims DJI drones are spying for China

Homeland Security claims DJI drones are spying for China

KiterTodd · Dec 1, 2017

This is the exact type of thing our tax dollars should be monitoring, in addition to whatever North Korea is up to. I'm glad to hear something we have suspected is getting reported widely and it may force DJI to make some changes so it doesn't hurt their revenue stream. They want to put drones in all our hands and also sell our federal government the drone tracking tools to monitor their drones.

That said, the drones are just getting too good and too affordable. They don't seem to be having any problems selling them even if they are using them for espionage.

And it's not just the videos you upload. Once their App is installed on our phones, anything it has access to can in theory be shared/exploited. If you're not aware of how a professional hacking campaign works, it's not a couple guys in their garage trying to download naked photos from your device, it is a team of hundreds who do this daily as their profession. Looking for any cracks that can be exploited, seeds planted, tracks covered, etc. I'd hope that someone is paying attention to it other than our forum banter.

TimesTen · Dec 1, 2017

KiterTodd said:
This is the exact type of thing our tax dollars should be monitoring, in addition to whatever North Korea is up to. I'm glad to hear something we have suspected is getting reported widely and it may force DJI to make some changes so it doesn't hurt their revenue stream. They want to put drones in all our hands and also sell our federal government the drone tracking tools to monitor their drones.

That said, the drones are just getting too good and too affordable. They don't seem to be having any problems selling them even if they are using them for espionage.

And it's not just the videos you upload. Once their App is installed on our phones, anything it has access to can in theory be shared/exploited. If you're not aware of how a professional hacking campaign works, it's not a couple guys in their garage trying to download naked photos from your device, it is a team of hundreds who do this daily as their profession. Looking for any cracks that can be exploited, seeds planted, tracks covered, etc. I'd hope that someone is paying attention to it other than our forum banter.

With over 30 years experience in IT and Cyber Security DOE, DOD I can tell you that the (Unclassified) Memo from ICE is total hogwash.

You have no clue ...... Where is the Memo for your iphone or android phone tracking you in Pokemon Go.

Look at this statement below your satellite GPS telemetry is being used today on the Mavic.

Total Bunk.....

"As of May 2017, DJI was attempting to add satellite communications to their UAS so operators were not reliant on cellular towers for the control stations. Satellite communications would allow real-time transmissions of information in rural areas or areas without adequate cellular towers."

Xtreme Drone Pilot · Dec 1, 2017

Headtalk said:
Look at this statement below your satellite GPS telemetry is being used today on the Mavic.

Total Bunk.....

"As of May 2017, DJI was attempting to add satellite communications to their UAS so operators were not reliant on cellular towers for the control stations. Satellite communications would allow real-time transmissions of information in rural areas or areas without adequate cellular towers."

It doesn't say "Mavic". DJI makes many UAS. The ICE Memo mostly talks about big U.S. infrastructure companies buying DJI drones, and these most likely are not consumer-grade:

"Since 2015, DJI has targeted a number of U.S. companies in the critical infrastructure and law enforcement sectors to market its UAS. As of July 2017, at least ten large companies and organizations operating in the railroad, utility, media, farming, education, and federal law enforcement sectors have already purchased and begun using DJI UAS. The most frequent uses include mapping land, inspecting infrastructure, conducting surveillance, and monitoring hazardous materials."

TimesTen · Dec 1, 2017

You have no clue, please stop with the non-sense.

The complete DJI line uses the same OS and same GPS telemetry don't deflect the absurd accusations by ICE.

The Army issued a warning at the same time because of vulnerabilities within DJI's operating system (android) a linux 2.2.x distribution customized by DJI.

The vulnerabilities have been remediated by DJI back in Aug.

-G

Xtreme Drone Pilot · Dec 1, 2017

Headtalk said:
The complete DJI line uses the same OS and same GPS telemetry don't deflect the absurd accusations by ICE.

Since they're focusing on 10 large companies, the drones DJI built for them could be completely custom-built, nothing like their publicly available product line. For a large infrastructure company, buying a few $100K custom-built drones is a pocket change. These drones won't have Mavic firmware, and they won't be using Go 4 app.