Haye Kesteloo

In a public statement addressing the Bug Bounty case with Kevin Finisterre, DJI also informs us that they’ve fired the software developers, who were involved in the cyber-security breach of the DJI customer data stored on the AWS servers.

DJI does not shy away from making public statements to set the record straight or at least to provide their side of the story. They have done so in the case of the attack on DJI’s Aeroscope. DJI also responded when a drone struck an airplane in Quebec. And now after Kevin Finisterre publicly posted his reasons for walking away from the top bounty of $30k of DJI’s Bug Bounty Program, DJI releases their public statement, in which they point out the actions they have been taking to remedy the issues. One of which was the firing of the software developers who were responsible for data security.

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Hunting Burmese pythons in the Floridian Everglades is no easy task. The camouflage of these snakes works so well that they are almost impossible to spot in amid the sawgrass and other swamp vegetation. However, there is a new guy in town that makes spotting pythons much easier and faster and it is a drone outfitted with an infrared thermal camera.

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Two days ago DJI released their new DJI Goggles RE, which stands for Racing Edition. These new goggles are compatible with the DJI Spark, Mavic Pro, Phantom 4 Series and Inspire 2 drones from the Chinese drone manufacturer.

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DJI just released a new firmware update for the DJI Phantom 3 SE. No word on the Phantom 4 series yet.

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Time to update your DJI GO 4 app if you (or your phone) haven’t done so already.

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The DJI Spark, the youngest member of the DJI drone family is in many ways one of our favourite drones off all time. So while you are recovering from your Thanksgiving dinner and surfing the internet on your phone, let us explain to you why the Spark is such an awesome little drone and why right now is the best time to buy one!

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DJI released new firmware for the DJI Mavic Pro and Platinum. This is update V01.04.0100 and it follows on the heels of the updated DJI Go 4 app. The new firmware includes a number of improvements, most notably the addition of the pano shooting modes. This firmware update also covers the DJI Goggles.

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The Department of Civil Aviation in Malaysia is about to crack down on the illegal drone flying in the country and will set up its own enforcement unit to put a stop to it.

According to industry sources, about 1 million drones have been sold in the Asian country over the last four years, but what many drone owners do not realize is that is illegal to fly an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone for recreational or commercial purposes outside the compounds of their home. According to Civil Aviation Regulations 2016, all drone activity, no matter the size and purpose, requires a flying permit from DCA.

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Today, right at the start of DJI’s Black Friday Sales event, the Chinese drone manufacturer launches the DJI Goggles Race Edition (RE) with dual 1080p LTPS displays and OcuSync Camera and Air Unit.

The metallic matte black and red leather DJI Goggles RE have all the same features as the regular Goggles but add the following features: a redesigned facial pad and headband, support for Sphere pano photo viewing and local video playback. They also work with the DJI OcuSync Air Unit and OcuSync Camera, which sell separately.

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According to a transport minister, there have been more than 50 near-misses between drones and manned aircraft, including this one at Gatwick Airport, during the last twelve months in the United Kingdom. Drone users will face new restrictions starting in 2018. A new proposed law will likely give the police new powers to land drones suspected of involvement in criminal activity and will restrict drone use near airports.

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Last week we reported about a drone patrol program being started in Perth, Australia. Today we learn that drones will be used to patrol the beaches in the far north of Queensland after a series of crocodile attacks. Fatal crocodile attacks have led to Surf Lifesaving Queensland to deploy a drone to spot for crocodiles in swim areas. Ever since crocs were found in stinger enclosures, three beaches have been closed.

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Security researcher Kevin Finisterre recently found a security flaw that allowed him to access personal data from DJI’s customers on servers from the Chinese drone manufacturer. Finisterre used DJI’s recently launched Bug Bounty program to report his findings. This resulted in many emails being sent back and forth between the researcher and the drone company’s legal department about the scope of DJI’s Bug Bounty program and other legalities. In the end, Finisterre felt threatened and concluded he could not sign DJI’s document. He then decided to not only forgo the 30,000 top reward but also to go public with his story in an 18-page PDF titled: “Why I walked away from $30,000 of DJI bounty money.”

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Last Thursday, ‘counter-drone’ company Department 13 published the white paper: “Anatomy of DJI’s Drone Identification Implementation” seemingly attacking DJI’s Aeroscope, a drone ‘license plate’ solution, that was introduced to the US market in Washington D.C. in October. In the document, Department 13, a company that sells expensive ‘counter-drone’ solutions and whose share price has dropped by 20% since the launch of Aeroscope, argues that there are many weak spots in DJI’s Aeroscope solution. Today, it was DJI’s turn to respond and they did so by issuing this statement: “Understanding DJI’s AeroScope Solution“.

We went through both Department 13’s white paper as well as DJI’s public response to provide you with a summary of what’s going on here.

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The short video “Slaughterbots”, has gone viral and garnered thousands and thousands of views in a matter of days. The video clip is a joint project between the University of California at Berkeley computer science professor Stuart Russell and the Future of Life Institute shows swarms of drones executing precisions attacks on human beings. According to Russell, this video shows a possible future if we don’t act now. Russell is not the first person to warn about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots or drones. Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have issued similar warnings about a dire future for humankind if we don’t take action.

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Transport Canada granted permission to the company Drone Delivery Canada to start testing drone deliveries in the Northern Canadian Communities of Moose Factory and Moosonee, Ontario. Toronto based Drone Delivery Canada made its first successful flights earlier this month in a partnership with Moose Cree First Nation. The partnership aims to establish a drone delivery service that would bring food, medical supplies and other necessities to the island of Moose Factory in the Moose River.

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CBS New York joined the NYPD on a mission to hunt drones in New York City. With the number of drones rapidly increasing, 770,000 drones have been registered with the FAA as of earlier this year, so is the number of drone incidents. CBS2’s Maurice Dubois took to the sky with the NYPD to see how they are cracking down on rogue drones.

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Since April 2016, there have been five hazardous or at least unauthorized drone flights reported, flying too close to the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Alabama, which happens to be the busiest airport in the state. This was revealed by ABC 33/40 after a review of the Federal Aviation Administration records. In two cases the drones passed within 200 feet of private airplanes. These reports come in the wake of other drone incidents over Staten Island, NY, Canada, New Zealand, and England.

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