Beijing warns of jail time for bypassing drone no-fly zones
China’s Ministry of Public Security has announced a strict, nationwide crackdown on the illegal modification and unauthorized use of drone flight control systems, warning that tampering with factory restrictions poses severe threats to both public and national security.
On Monday, May 18, that Chinese police are aggressively targeting individuals and businesses that offer private services to bypass built-in drone safeguards. Specifically, the ministry warned that helping drone owners remove altitude limits and geofenced no-fly zones constitutes a serious criminal offense, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
To underscore the severity of the crackdown, the ministry released details on 10 benchmark cases. Authorities arrested suspects who used technical exploits to bypass standard drone safety limits or tampered with factory-set payload parameters to turn an "illegal profit." All suspects are currently facing criminal compulsory measures as police investigations expand.
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Aviation and security experts warn that these unauthorized modifications carry catastrophic risks. Hacked drones that bypass factory altitude caps can easily drift into commercial civil aviation routes, risking mid-air collisions with passenger jets. Furthermore, disabling geographic restrictions allows civilian drones to drift into highly sensitive areas, such as military control zones, creating a massive risk for the leakage of state secrets.
By Aysel Mammadzada
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