REVIEW article
Front. Commun. Netw.
Sec. Security, Privacy and Authentication
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frcmn.2025.1661928
This article is part of the Research TopicCybercrime Investigations in the Internet of Everything (IoE)View all articles
Cyber Threat in Drone Systems: Bridging Real-Time Security, Legal Admissibility, and Digital Forensic Solution Readiness
Provisionally accepted
Usman Mistura Mohammed1*
Esther Omolara Omolara1*
Oludare Isaac Abiodun1
Jawad Rasheed2
Onur Osman3Philip Adeyinka Oyadiran1Olumide Owolabi1Toba Sam anjorin1Toba Sam Anjorin1Kemi Victoria Dada1Damilola Obafisoye4Aminat Ajibola5Adeola Grace Olugbenga1- 1University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
- 2Istanbul Nisantasi Universitesi, Sarıyer, Türkiye
- 3Istanbul Topkapi Universitesi, Istanbul, Türkiye
- 4University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States
- 5University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafar Al Batin, Saudi Arabia
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The rapid expansion of drones otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), in critical sectors has increased their exposure to cyber threats such as GPS spoofing, command hijacking, and firmware tampering. Existing forensic tools often fail to address UAV-specific challenges like volatile memory and limited storage, hindering effective investigations. Hence, to address this gap, this study proposes the Enhanced UAV Forensic Framework (EUAVFF) a modular, forensic-by-design model integrating blockchain audit trails, secure logging, telemetry offloading, and UAV-friendly encryption. Validated through a literature review and a stakeholder survey (n=100), results showed that over 70% of respondents lacked awareness of UAV cyber risks, and current drones were rated poorly in key forensic areas, including tamper-proof logging and legal evidence handling. Only 28% were familiar with drone-specific threats, reflecting critical gaps in preparedness.These findings emphasize the urgent need for proactive forensic integration. EUAVFF offers a structured path to secure, accountable, and resilient UAV operations in increasingly hostile cyber environments.
Keywords: UAV Security Threats1, UAV Digital Forensics Solution2, Forensic Readiness3, Cybercrime Investigation4, Forensic Framework5, Real-time Evidence Collection6
Received: 08 Jul 2025; Accepted: 06 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mohammed, Omolara, Abiodun, Rasheed, Osman, Oyadiran, Owolabi, anjorin, Anjorin, Dada, Obafisoye, Ajibola and Olugbenga. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Usman Mistura Mohammed, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
Esther Omolara Omolara, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
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