DRONES AS TOOLS FOR CRIMINALS

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DRONES AS TOOLS FOR CRIMINALS
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• Drones have truly changed some of our lives, such
  as for filmmakers, who are now able to capture
  dramatic sequences for their movies without the
  major cost of a helicopter, or rescue
  organisations who use drones to help them spot
  people in need and bring them to safety. However,
  there is no doubt that drones can be used for
  erroneous purposes, too here are a few ways in
  which UAVs can be (and have been) used as tools
  for criminals
• ATM crimes
• Most individuals are now aware that they need to
  be extra vigilant when using ATMs that they
  need to shield their PIN number and so forth, but
  a couple of years ago, a drone was spotted
  hovering and filming people standing at an ATM in
  Northern Ireland.

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• Once the drone was noticed, however, the operator
  quickly flew the drone away and in doing so,
  collided with a passing taxi. The suspect was
  made to pay the taxi owner for the damage their
  drone had caused, but ultimately the police
  couldnt prove that the video footage had been
  taken with criminal intent.
• Smuggling drugs and other contraband into
  prisons
• Drugs have always been smuggled into prisons, and
  often by means that dont bear thinking about,
  but with the commercial availability of drones
  these days, recent attempts to smuggle drugs over
  the prison walls have been a little less foul. In
  a correctional facility in Ohio, heroin,
  marijuana, and tobacco was strapped to a drone
  that was then sent flying over the walls, to be
  picked up by a prisoner.

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• However, once the drone dropped its package, a
  huge fight broke out among the prisoners, with
  one individual grabbing the package and throwing
  it over a fence into the recreational yard.
  Correctional officers struggled to control the
  fight and had to strip-search close to 200
  inmates to locate the drugs.
• Drone technology that can hack into Wi-Fi
  networks
• While drones that can hack is not a new concept,
  a drone developed by a security consulting firm
  can gain unauthorized access to various kinds of
  Wi-Fi networks. It has been named the danger
  drone and is a Raspberry Pi computer that has
  been loaded with hacking software and attached to
  a kit-built drone body.

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• The device can be configured to receive its
  signals using cell towers, and this type of use
  of a drone, can make the process more discreet
  for hackers, and put them at less risk of getting
  caught.
• Helping robbers and thieves
• Last year in a village in the south of England, a
  drone was spotted hovering in the vicinity for
  several days in a row, and a few days after the
  drone was sighted, a home was broken into.
  Naturally, this led local people to be suspicious
  of the drone, and to suspect that it had been
  used to stake out potential homes to break into
  and rob.

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• In recent years there have been repeated concerns
  about drones being used to help thieves enter
  homes and steal things, or to spy on individuals,
  and with drones so readily available and
  relatively affordable, incidents such as this are
  not likely to lessen.
• Like most things in life, drones can be used for
  good, and they can be manipulated and used for
  erroneous purposes, but with drones set to stick
  around for the foreseeable future, well just
  have to find new and better ways of dealing with,
  and preventing drone related crimes.

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