Fortifying offshore facilities: strategies to safeguard against negligent or malicious drone incursions

Emily Rhodes * SkySafe

The world’s critical infrastructure has always been a hot commodity as its facilities drive the production of what's needed to maintain everyday life, making it a prime target for cyberattacks and physical attacks. But what about the threats coming from above? In recent years, drones have become increasingly affordable and accessible, empowering individuals with new capabilities and increasing the risk of incidents occurring at secure facilities. 

Understanding the threat

While drones offer countless advantages, they can also be misused, posing risks to critical infrastructure. Negligent drone operators can unintentionally breach airspace restrictions and jeopardize the safety of offshore facilities. Malicious actors may also exploit drones to conduct surveillance, such as corporate espionage, or, in extreme cases, launch attacks against the facility. These threats necessitate proactive measures to protect offshore facilities and maintain the integrity of their operations. Should a negligent or malicious drone operator proceed with their flight and crash into a critical infrastructure site or drop hazardous material from above, the potential damage would impact the crews, the facility, and the surrounding community or ecosystems.

Incidents such as these have already begun to occur as restricted airspace violations happen daily. Just last year, the Norway Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) urged offshore oil and gas platforms in the area to remain highly vigilant after receiving several reports of unidentified drone activity. Not only can drones cause disruptions when they end up in protected airspace, but they may be there for a more sinister reason, like plotting a deliberate attack. Either way, leaders and on-site operators of offshore critical infrastructure must ensure they’re safeguarded from this credible and constant threat.

The widespread availability of drones opens a misconception that anyone using a drone for criminal activity must be considered a highly sophisticated threat, but that’s not necessarily true. With the right drone detection technology, drone usage can be quickly and easily detected and tracked, even to the point of knowing where the drone originated and its current flight path. Drone detection networks can also see more than just the airborne UAV. It can also pinpoint the drone operator’s location, allowing authorities to take the necessary steps to subdue the threat. Implementing a robust drone detection monitoring network is essential to counter this emerging threat.

Comprehensive critical infrastructure airspace management enables users such as offshore crew members to be informed of their airspace and to be quickly alerted to the presence of unauthorized drone activity that could disrupt services, whether from negligent drone operators or those looking to plot and carry out an act of terrorism on the facility. This cutting-edge approach utilizes advanced radio technology, reverse engineering, and deep threat analysis. In addition, with real-time monitoring from takeoff, drone monitoring technology enables accurate operator identification. In addition, it provides critical data for understanding drone operations, such as historical flights. By leveraging drone defense security solutions for offshore critical infrastructure, users can remain aware of their airspace to protect the crew and the facility.

The role of a drone detection monitoring network 

A drone detection monitoring network is a crucial defense mechanism against unauthorized drone activities. This comprehensive system integrates radio frequency (RF) sensors alongside current and accurate drone data and analytics that are able to provide complex airspace awareness. These components work together to identify and track multiple airborne threats.

Implementing a drone detection monitoring network offers several advantages for safeguarding offshore facilities:

        Early threat detection. By providing real-time alerts, the network enables swift response to unauthorized drone activity, allowing security personnel to initiate appropriate countermeasures promptly.

        Enhanced situational awareness. A comprehensive monitoring network enhances situational awareness by providing a complete view of drone activities. This enables security teams to analyze patterns, identify potential threats, and develop effective response strategies.

        Minimized disruptions. By detecting drones before they reach offshore facilities, the network minimizes disruptions to ongoing operations, allowing for continuous productivity and maintaining safety standards.

        Scalability and integration. The modular nature of a drone detection monitoring network allows for scalability and integration with existing security systems. This flexibility lends itself to seamless integration into the overall security infrastructure of offshore facilities.

Empowering awareness through data

During the early stages of consumer drone adoption, detecting and tracking these devices was challenging, making it impossible to truly know if a drone’s operator was conducting negligent or malicious flights within the airspace of an offshore facility. Fortunately, technological advancements leveraging real-time drone data and analytics enable enhanced and comprehensive airspace awareness.

Detection and tracking

Drone tracking systems can detect the source of a drone, track its trajectory, and furnish comprehensive data regarding its activities through a historical analysis of a drone’s previous flight paths. This valuable information can be utilized to precisely determine the whereabouts of the drone operator so the proper authorities can detain and mitigate the threat. Centralized monitoring ensures real-time chain of command status updates are conveyed through automated text messages and online notifications sent across the organization. Furthermore, by analyzing the historical patterns of a drone's movements, users can acquire valuable insights into its regular flight routes and identify persistent and habitual airspace offenders. This allows for the determination of the next steps to address the threat in the future, including prosecutor-ready reports that are generated immediately after an incident.

As the use of drones continues to grow, offshore facilities must proactively address the risks associated with negligent or malicious drone operators. Implementing a comprehensive drone detection monitoring network offers a robust solution to safeguard these critical installations. A drone defense Software as a Service, or SaaS solution is equipped to identify and track unauthorized drone activity to resolve the threat and give offshore oil and gas facilities the power to control and protect their airspace. This means that facility operators and crew are not tasked with trivial complications when it comes to maintaining equipment. Instead, they are presented with a turn-key solution. All they have to do is log in to begin monitoring their airspace. Such a proactive approach will bolster security among the world’s most precious assets, ensure uninterrupted operations, and provide peace of mind to those managing offshore facilities in an increasingly drone-filled world.

The author

Emily Rhodes is the VP of Marketing at SkySafe.