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Comment by bbarn | Hacker News Reader

I know it's very slippery-slope in nature, but drone deliveries bother me. I think of them being great theft targets, then of course they need to defend themselves, then we've got armed drones delivering packages. This would advance the "theft target" part greatly.

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Or, you know, insurance. But sure, let's put missile launchers on them instead.

I foresee anti-theft measures being more like the drone rendering itself useless/calling home if stolen or captured. Also marking the parts with amazon identification so you know they are stolen. It's no different from stealing the mailman's truck when he gets out to make a delivery, and mail trucks don't need "defense" built in.

People aren't talking about stealing the drones - rather, stealing the goods the drone is carrying.

Unless you're assuming an awesome future with net guns fired from pirate drones, downing the Amazon drones and stealing their wares, this is just the same package theft issue that already exists.

With the exception that the human factor is removed. I have to imagine the number of teenage kids who'd take an en route drone out of the sky is greater than the number that would attack a UPS driver or steal from someone's door.

On the other hand, a drone can safely land in a fenced-in backyard and deliver a package without needing to leave it at the front door for the entire world to snatch. This reduces the problem of drone and package theft.

If drone delivery does become ubiquitous, I'd imagine some kind of drone rooftop helipad with a package shoot into the house/apartment would quickly become standardized ... or something along those lines.

If the back yard is accessible to delivery drones wouldn't it just as easily be accessible to a thief's drone?

Yes, provided the thief is aware a package exists and has a drone of similar capabilities ... this is why I used the term reduces. But with ubiquitous drone delivery, I'm sure we'd have some sort of ubiquitous delivery storage unit.

The recipient could have a locked box that only opens via Amazon-drone authentication. This could also provide a target visual, or homing beacon, for the drone.

Defense could quite practically be a mostly light weight housing that could take a hit or two, and using ducted fans because they're safer and give real good performance. I also imagine that a drone would have a set of cameras for dealing with the hazards of delivery, and would be programmed to avoid people in general, so it would be rare that you could get into a situation where a drone could be stolen.

We already have unarmed delivery drivers, packages left in a lobby, delivery trucks left with the door open while delivery drivers are transporting packages to various building. For drones to be a large theft target then people have to want to steal and steal unknown packages. It seems like a lot more effort to get a drone out of the sky than to grab a couple boxes out of a mail truck.

Imagine the fun a hacker could have if they penetrated the systems running the drones.

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