Drone Swarmer

Drone Swarmer is an ESP8266 device that spoofs "ghost" drones by exploiting an Open Drone ID vulnerability using Wi-Fi Beacon broadcasts

Disclaimer ⚠️

Drone Swarmer is a proof-of-concept device designed for research purposes only. The project demonstrates the potential vulnerabilities in the Open Drone ID protocol, specifically relating to drone identification systems. **The use of this device to spoof drones or interfere with legal and authorized drone operations is illegal in many jurisdictions.**

This project is intended strictly for educational and research purposes to highlight the need for improved security in drone communication systems. Do not use Drone Swarmer in any manner that violates the law or regulations in your country.

Features 📡

• 📡 Spoofing "ghost" drones using Wi-Fi beacon broadcasts
• 🔨 ESP8266 and NEO6M GPS module prototype
• ⚙️ Code variant of Remote ID Spoofer

Demo Gallery ⚡️

Picture of the build

Device shown attached to DJI drone

Open Drone ID packet analysis with Wireshark

Watch it in Action 🎥

Watch Drone Swarmer in action on the NullByte YouTube channel:

Build ⚙️

Materials List

• NEO6M GPS Module
• ESP8266 WEMOS D1 Mini

Code Overview 📟

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ANG13T/drone-swarmer.git

2. Install the Arduino IDE

3. Install the ESP8266 Board Manager

Tools -> Board -> Board Manager

Search for "ESP8266 Boards" and Install

4. Install Libraries for the Project

Sketch -> Include Library -> Manage Libraries

Search for: "Adafruit GPS Library" and Install

5. Select "LOLIN(WEMOS) D1 Mini" Board under "Tools -> Board"

6. Click the "Upload" Button

Research Article 🔬

To get a more in-depth and technical overview of Drone Swarmer, you can refer to this research article

Future Improvements 🚀

• Find a way to include multiple microcontroller boards to spoof more than 16 drones (current capacity)
• Create a localhost web server to display the spoofed drones on a map
• Look into possible MAC Address collission issues within the code that may be causing the 16 drone capacity limit (refer to research article)

Contributing ✨

Drone Swarmer is open to any contributions. Please fork the repository and make a pull request with the features or fixes you want to implement.

Special Thanks & Credits 🏆

The Drone Swarmer leveraged on previous Open Drone ID projects, research, and references included below

• Remote ID Spoofer
• Mavlink Overview of Open Drone ID
• Open Drone ID Code
• Android Open Drone ID Receiver
• Open Drone ID Wireshark Dissector

Support 💜

If you enjoyed Drone Swarmer, please consider becoming a sponsor in order to fund my future projects.

To check out my other works, visit my GitHub profile.