Importance of Secure Real Time Information to an Operator Using Robotics

Information is critical to successful deployment and operation of unmanned vehicles. The increasing use of unmanned vehicles in modern conflicts has substantially increased the strategic and tactical value of these vehicles and the information they gather. It is now common public knowledge that the video streams of some predator drones were unencrypted and militants were able to use cheap commercially available software to intercept these feeds. This is an example of security as an afterthought. Encryption and security are critical to unmanned systems and should be implemented early in the development process. This paper explores some of the issues related to encryption and security of unmanned vehicles and communication.