WHITE PAPER
Protecting Drones In the Event of Compromise or Capture
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On top of that foundation, RelianceOne minimizes the attack surface, performs run-time integrity checks to verify system authenticity,
and enforces secure boot to stop unauthorized code from running. Because it 's built for the case where capture is the expected
outcome rather than the exception, a captured system running RelianceOne is designed to yield nothing of value to an adversary — the
resilience payoff of engineering for the worst case instead of hoping to prevent it.
CONCLUSION
As drones gain prominence across military and commercial operations alike, securing them against loss or capture becomes
paramount. Prevention alone was never going to be enough for an expendable asset — the same resilience principle covered throughout
Mercury 's zero-trust series: protect data, respond to compromise autonomously the moment it happens, and design so a captured
system still can't be turned into an intelligence win for the adversary who holds it.
Mercury 's RelianceOne offers robust, tailored solutions to address these unique security challenges. By integrating these advanced
security capabilities, developers of uncrewed and autonomous systems can ensure the technology remains resilient and secure, even
in the face of potential capture and reverse engineering attempts by adversaries. See our zero-trust architecture whitepaper and
embedded OS paper for how these same secure-boot, attestation and isolation principles apply across the broader edge portfolio.
Mercury Systems is a technology company delivering signal solutions, software applications, networking, storage and secure
processing in support of aerospace, defense and commercial critical infrastructure missions. Mercury 's RelianceOne™ hardens
operationally deployed systems and boosts their cyber resilience to protect data and operations.
1
https://phys.org/news/2011-12-rq-drone-ambush-facts-iranian.html#google_vignette
2
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1032823/chinese-seize-us-navy-underwater-drone-in-south-china-sea/
3
https://en.defence-ua.com/news/1544_days_of_russia_ukraine_war_russian_casualties_in_ukraine-18516.html
