Any organization treating unmanned aerial systems, better known as drones, as a fringe security issue is running behind.
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July 8, 2025 INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU'LL FIND: |
For decades, the airspace above us was something only governments and militaries had to worry about. Today, that’s no longer the case for private citizens, small businesses, and multinational corporations.
Unmanned aerial systems—more commonly known as drones—have become smaller, smarter, and significantly more accessible. What began as a niche tool for hobbyists or photographers has evolved into a versatile platform for disruption, espionage, and exploitation that goes far beyond traditional espionage. Now, corporate campuses, office buildings, data centers, oil rigs—these are all potential targets of drones and their operators. And as drone technology continues to outpace policy and detection capabilities, the risks to organizations grow more complex by the day.
Recognizing this shift, Global Guardian recently hosted a high-level webinar: “Drone Threat Warfare, Espionage, and Corporate Risk in 2025.” This conversation brought together experts and advisors to dissect the realities of drone-borne threats and share what organizations can do now to protect themselves.
Moderated by Brian Raymond, Executive Vice President of Client Risk Management at Global Guardian, the discussion included insights from Andrew Biechlin, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Xelevate; Marcy Eisenberg, Co-Founder and President of Xelevate; Jason Bellini, International Correspondent for Scripps News; and Joe Chafetz, Intelligence Analyst at Global Guardian.
Here are the key takeaways for any organization that wants to stay ahead of the curve.
The Drone Threat Evolves: Smarter, Smaller, More Autonomous
The opening message of the webinar was clear: drones are no longer just innocuous tools—they are rapidly becoming platforms for violence, espionage, disruption, and cyber intrusion. Chafetz set the stage by emphasizing how dual-use innovation in both military and civilian sectors is accelerating drone capabilities faster than most policy makers and organizations can adapt.
“The future of the UAS threat is robust,” says Chafetz. “We have a dynamic born of dual-use applications—military and civilian—that supercharge capabilities in both spaces.”
Today’s drones can be outfitted with Wi-Fi sniffers, cameras, and autonomous navigation—all for a fraction of the cost and size seen just a few years ago. And as artificial intelligence advances, a single operator can command a fleet, automate reconnaissance missions, and gather sensitive data without ever breaching a wall.
That means a drone hovering just outside your building could spoof a trusted Wi-Fi network, capture login credentials, or film sensitive activity inside—all without crossing a single threshold. This makes drones into quiet, mobile attack platforms that can bypass physical security entirely and compromise digital systems before anyone knows they were there. Some of these systems are now quite small in size and nearly impossible to detect.
“Just this April, China unveiled a 0.6 cm mosquito-like drone, capable of slipping into controlled areas, spying on conversations, or photographing sensitive documents—without anyone realizing it was there,” said Chafetz.
For security teams, this represents a major shift: the perimeter is no longer a fence line or firewall—it’s the airspace above and around your most valuable assets as well.
From Battlefield to Boardroom: Drones Are Already in Use
Keep in mind that, according to our experts, many of the ways in which drones can impact us are already here, and they're not limited to military operations.
“Once reserved for the battlefields and first responders, drones are now rapidly entering our airspace above our homes, corporate campuses, critical infrastructure, and sensitive facilities, bringing with them a host of new security challenges,” said Raymond.
In one case highlighted by Chafetz, a drone carrying a Wi-Fi penetration device intercepted the credentials of a remote-working employee at a major financial firm. The drone was only discovered when it accidentally snagged on a rooftop cable—had it not crashed, the cause of the breach may never have been discovered.
When it comes to the battlefield, in places like Ukraine, the world is seeing drone warfare evolve in real time—from reconnaissance to targeted strikes. These tactics are a preview of what could surface in commercial and civilian environments. As Bellini shared, those on the frontlines in Ukraine often must wear an “anti-thermal drone suit,” as every inch of the frontline is under constant surveillance by thermal image-equipped drones.
The military-grade features used in conflict—thermal imaging, AI-guided flight, precision tracking—are becoming cheaper, more user-friendly, and easier to repurpose, such that they may appear in civilian life sooner than you’d expect. That means drones could be used to track employee movements, observe access routines, or monitor security patrols from a distance, all without being seen. These advanced capabilities make it easier for bad actors to plan intrusions, gather intelligence, or launch coordinated attacks, often before the target knows it’s been compromised.
Any organization treating drones as a fringe issue is behind. For more on the threat and what your organize can do to mitigate it, download the 2025 Worldwide Threat Assessment from Global Guardian.
Corporate Espionage Is Taking to the Skies
Drones can silently surveil production lines, intercept wireless communications, or even emplace devices capable of capturing keystrokes or mapping network access points. And because they don’t physically breach the property line, many organizations don’t even realize they’ve been compromised.
The threat is made even more challenging is the legal gray area that surrounds U.S. airspace.
“The cruel reality in the United States is you do not own the airspace from above your roof. That’s FAA jurisdiction,” said Biechlin. This means even if a drone is hovering even a few inches over a sensitive facility, private companies often have no legal authority to interfere—a fact that leaves many security teams feeling exposed. Taking action against a drone, such as shooting it down or jamming its signal, could expose a company to legal liability and other issues. As Biechlin put it, shooting at a drone above your home is no different to the FAA than shooting at a plane in the sky.
Kinetic options notwithstanding, electronic mitigation measures provide little recourse, and in fact present their own challenges, said Biechlin. “You have people on pacemakers, medical devices, radios—all connected to wireless networks. If you jam that airspace, you could affect people who have nothing to do with your operation.”
While not every drone sighting signals malicious intent, experienced threat actors have been known to use repeated flyovers to build a detailed picture of a site’s vulnerabilities—timing guard shifts, monitoring deliveries, or identifying unsecured entry points. That’s why it’s essential for organizations to track these incidents, establish a baseline of normal activity, and investigate anomalies. If left unchallenged, these patterns can lead to serious vulnerabilities.
In this new era, the sky above your office isn’t just open air. It’s a risk vector—one that’s increasingly exploited by those who understand its value.
What Can We Do About This Threat?
While the options for neutralizing drones may be limited under U.S. law, that doesn’t mean your organization is powerless. In fact, most of the experts in the webinar emphasized that the key to managing drone risk today is detection—along with situational awareness and proactive coordination across teams and agencies.
That starts with deploying passive detection systems—technologies that monitor radio frequencies (RF), radar signatures, and visual feeds to identify drone activity near your facilities. While you may not be able to disable a drone, knowing when one is present—and how often it returns—creates an intelligence foundation you can act on.
“Detection is completely legal right now, and it’s a critical first step,” said Eisenberg. “You’re building a pattern of life. You’re increasing your situational awareness.”
Once detection is in place, the next step is incident response. Do your security teams know what to do if a drone appears? Who do they notify? Is the threat logged, tracked, or ignored? Having an escalation protocol—especially one that includes external partners like law enforcement or federal contacts—is critical.
Another overlooked piece is trend analysis. By documenting drone sightings and correlating them with time, location, and internal activity, organizations can detect patterns of surveillance or targeting—data that becomes vital if an incident escalates.
And finally, this is not a problem any organization should try to solve alone. Coordination is key. That means building relationships with state police, cybercrime units, airport security teams, and security partners like Global Guardian. The sooner your detection data feeds into a broader threat picture, the safer your people, assets, and infrastructure will be.
Your Risk Management Strategy Must Evolve
If drone threats are treated as fringe, episodic, or purely technical problems, organizations will remain vulnerable. What the webinar made clear is that this is not just a facilities issue or a security vendor conversation: It’s a strategic risk management priority that deserves C-suite attention.
Why? Because drones collapse traditional boundaries and act as a force multiplier. They bridge physical and cyber domains. They impact legal, reputational, operational, and safety outcomes. And they expose the gaps between detection, authority, and action.
“Every new threat vector demands a new way of thinking. If your risk strategy is grounded in yesterday’s threats, you’ll be blind to today’s vulnerabilities,” said Raymond.
To move forward, organizations need to evolve in three key ways:
- Broaden ownership. Drone risk shouldn’t sit solely with security teams. IT, legal, HR, and operations all have stakes and roles to play.
- Plan for escalation. One flyover may mean nothing. Several may be a prelude to data theft or reputational sabotage. Have a framework for identifying the difference and acting early.
- Design for what’s next. AI-driven swarm drones, near-invisible reconnaissance tools, and exploitable access points you can’t see are just some of the threats on the horizon in this space, and the curve is only going to keep climbing.
Watch the Full Webinar for More Insights
The threats are real, the technology is evolving, and the legal landscape is murky. But with the right intelligence and preparation, your organization can stay ahead.
To hear directly from the experts—including operational insights, real-world case studies, and guidance on detection tools and policy—watch the full webinar: “Drone Threat Warfare, Espionage, and Corporate Risk in 2025.” Whether you're just beginning to assess drone-related risk or working to strengthen an existing security posture, the session offers timely perspective on where the threats are headed and how to respond.
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