The use of drones is taking off in America.
Local governments and private businesses see them as a cheap and effective way of maintaining an eye from the sky.
But will the drones be fully under their control?
A college professor and his students say not necessarily.
A civilian drone aircraft was "hijacked" by Professor Todd Humphreys and his graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin.
They were able to hack into the drone's GPS signals.
Later, in an exercise done in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security at White Sands, N.M., they were even able to make the drone land.
Humphreys told CBS News, "You can think of this as hijacking a plane from a distance. (It's) as if you're at the controls of the plane, because you've now captured the autopilot's sense of its own navigation solution. And you can manipulate it left or right, up or down."
The "hijackings" would seem to raise concerns about vulnerabilities in our domestic use of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles.
"I see this as causing trouble in the skies," Humphreys said. "I wouldn't want to be living under skies where this was that easy to do."
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