Over the last decade, security technology has undoubtedly come a long way. Even though humans are still competent enough to provide security to anything from a person to an organization, they still lack in many ways. Biased judgments, negligence, tiredness, need for sleep, and wage disputes lead human security capabilities flawed. These security vulnerabilities are now mitigated by the advent of unmanned security measures and devices like automated doors, robots, and drones.
Where guards need to be paid regularly for their services, drones provide security with a one-time installment of purchasing and configuration. Eventually, they offer a highly cost-effective and more reliable security measure. Self-driving cars improve the safety of passengers significantly. Drones help in finding vulnerabilities of an area that can be missed by humans by providing a 3D perspective. Their intelligent analyzing systems have helped the government detect and track various threats like terrorists, insurgents, and other criminal activities. By integrating with weapons like machine guns and missile technology, UAVs have found a wide range of applications in military combat. Securities now use drones to monitor roofs and high places. Drones have also been resourceful in emergency relief situations, like providing aid to hurricane-stricken areas and fires of California.
Observing the increased demand for UAVs demand for security missions in present times, the Federation Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the total number of authorized drone operators has already outnumbered the total amount of manned aircraft. As per the experts at Ohio University, $6.4 billion is spent every year for the development of drone technology. They further estimate that by 2020, approximately 7 million UAVs will be active in the airspace system
However, there are risks in relying on drones. They are still prone to cyber-attacks and have been reported to be used to send sensitive information to other countries. Due to system failure or frequency interference, one can lose control of drones. Their limited battery life also poses as one of the problems hindering their adaption on a global scale.
Despite the challenges, the future of UAV technology is expected to be promising. By integrating with AI, UAVs can analyze, track, and detect threats with the least amount of human interference. Also, integrating UAVs with Geographical Information Systems(GIS) along with LiDAR sensors should significantly improve them for reconnaissance and surveillance. Furthermore, the number of registered and certified drone operators are increasing exponentially. Debates are raging on implementing Drone ID, which would be crucial in Unmanned Traffic Monitoring (UTM). GIS data integration with drone technology also opens up new pathways to innovations in unmanned security technology.
Significant developments in UAV technology have led to an influx of unmanned security solution providers in the market, with each organization specializing in different aspects of the technology. To help business providers select the most promising vendor, Enterprise Security Magazine presents “The Top 10 Unmanned Security Service/Consulting-2019.”
