A new drone that can be used to hack smartphones and steal personal data - all without a user's knowledge - has been developed.
The Snoopy drone steals data from unsuspecting smartphone users by exploiting handsets looking for a wireless signal.
The quadcopter, developed by a security firm which has offices in South Africa and UK, uses the company's software, which is installed on a computer attached to the drone.
Glenn Wilkinson, from the firm SensePost, said that when the software is attached to a drone flying around an area, it can gather everything from a user's home address to his or her bank information.
Many smartphone users leave the wireless option constantly turned on on their smartphone. That means the phones are constantly looking for a network to join - including previously used networks, 'BBC News' reported.
"A lot of [past] network names are unique and it's possible to easily geo-locate them," said Wilkinson.
Snoopy demonstrates how someone could impersonate one of those past networks.
Once a user has joined the disguised network, a rogue operator can then steal any information that the user enters while on that network - including e-mail passwords, Facebook account information, and even banking details.
Wilkinson acknowledges that the Snoopy software is not new technology - but rather, just a different way of gathering together a series of known security risks.
For instance, the Snoopy software has been ground-based until now, operating primarily on computers, smartphones with Linux installed on them, and on open-source small computers like the Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black.
But when attached to a drone, it can quickly cover large areas, Wilkinson said.
"You can also fly out of audio-visual range - so you can't see or hear it, meaning you can bypass physical security - men with guns, that sort of thing," he said.
The drone was unveiled at the Black Hat security conference in Singapore.
