IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2016 - 73

to the crashing of individual UAVs in the network. Severe
weather conditions such as turbulence and lightening or
unforeseen system errors may cause UAVs to fall over
urban spaces. Moreover, due to sharing of the airspace
with other manned aircrafts such as commercial/private
planes in urban areas, there is also a serious risk of midair collisions leading to widespread destruction.

Security Concerns
FANET technology is vulnerable to hackers, some of
whom are non-state actors [16]. Though encrypted GPS
information can be exchanged in sensitive missions, a
lot of research needs to be conducted on dedicated
security protocols for FANETs. Terrorists may take control of the entire network or the subset of UAVs that
communicate with the base station by jamming or
spoofing the signals. Such security threats exist allowing adversaries to exploit these networks for their personal benefits such as retrieving cr yptographic
information or altering surveillance facts and figures.
Considering the growing military roles of FANETs and
the ease of access to technology, there is a high possibility that foes of humanity all over the world will also
join this race with their own suite of network firepower,
adding to their existing arsenal of "tools of war."

commercial and civilian roles in future. However, there
is more to be considered than just working towards
enhancing operational advantages. Existing legal
reforms regarding deployment of such networks need to
be revolutionized by all states that have regard for
humanitarian laws above military centered gains. Laws
should be regulated on the national and international
level regarding the use of FANETs for military and surveillance purposes. By setting globally accepted limits,
the concept of artificially intelligent and armed FANETs
should be carefully monitored. Superpowers like the
United States, Russia, European Union, and China, who
enjoy superior technology and resources, should strive
to support underdeveloped and developing countries in
terms of scientific knowledge so that they may benefit
from FANETs in terms of disaster management. Also,
the research focus on technological aspects of FANETs
should be diverted towards commercial uses of the
technology, as well as towards research on enhancing
the safety, security, and privacy of people.

Author Information
The authors are with the National University of Sciences
and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. Email:
wajiya@pnec.nust.edu.pk; bmkhan@pnec.nust.edu.pk.

References

Psychological Concerns
FANETs can support long loiter times and thus are expected to provide long range, cost effective, and reliable
options for military and civilian surveillance applications.
The psychological impacts of such activities are so profound that they are expected to promote a mentally paralyzed social order. The people residing in such areas are
under immense pressure from being constantly monitored by aerial networks that are watching their every act.
Such scenarios are expected to give rise to behaviorally
artificial societies devoid of personal freedom, which is a
basic human right. Moreover, the operation of such aerial
networks in war-torn areas, such as North Waziristan in
Pakistan, has bitterly changed the lifestyle of citizens [17].
They are going about their lives with an anxiety of being
mistakenly hit by circling UAVs above them. Every now
and then they witness innocent family members targeted
due to ambiguous information or system errors of these
networks. Studies and reports reveal that the civilian community of this unfortunate area is in a state of psychological and emotional trauma. Thus, the use of FANETs for
military actions is expected to bring more psychological
harm than a sense of security to civilians.

Towards Social Sustainability of FANETs
It is foreseeable that technical advancements in artificial intelligence, computer, and sensor technology for
FANETs will lead to the adoption of additional military,
june 2016

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