# Legal, Economic and Cyber Security Framework Considerations for Drone Usage
###### Abstract  
Drones have been used in recent years more and more in various economic sectors (e.g., military, agriculture, retail, transport), but also for personal use and entertainment. The current legislative framework and cyber security standards do not fully address the identification of liable stakeholders in the drone ecosystem for cyber-incidents and the requirement to implement preventive cyber-security measures. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the usage of drones fits in the context of the digital economy. For this purpose, we use a complex questionnaire which was sent to a total of 233 respondents from May to July 2021. The responses are analyzed from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Our results highlight the areas of improvement in the existing legislation and find the following: (1) respondents are willing to pay additional direct and indirect costs related to cyber security to benefit from more secure drones, (2) the entire ecosystem involved in drone production, distribution, and usage is responsible for ensuring the prevention of security breaches, and (3) respondents perceive a shared liability of stakeholders for certain types of cyber-attacks depending on the role of the stakeholders in the drone ecosystem and the type of vulnerability exploited by the cyber-attack. The details on the specific cyber-attack use cases detail each of the above for each type of cyber-attack. Finally, we make proposals to accommodate the new types of use cases brought by the use of drones in various economic contexts. The results of this research paper assist policy makers in terms of improvement to existing legislation in terms of the drone ecosystem. In addition, they increase visibility for stakeholders in the drone ecosystem in terms of aspects to focus on in order to increase the trust of clients in drone usage. im pact; responsibility; security by design; continuous security +
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_Applied_  
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and to increase the convenience of services rendered. This tendency has been enhanced by artificial intelligence, the digitalization of the public sector, Internet of Things devices and, more recently, also drones. In this context, it is mandatory to think about and develop a legislative but also an institutional framework in Romania regarding the production, marketing, registration and use of drones in the national airspace, in order to align with European and international trends, taking into account the possible future evolution of these technologies and integrated safeguards related to liability in case of economic damages and prevention of cyber-attacks. From a legislative perspective, until this moment, the national and European legislation has focused on the usability of the drones from multiple perspectives: who can drive them, what types of drones (by reference to their weight) can be used, the altitude to which they can fly, the geographic locations in which they can fly and the possibility to take photographs or video while flying [1]. The need for such rules emerged from the fast growing selling of drones in the European Union and the interest of companies and consumers alike in using them in various activities (either economical or personal in nature). However, these represent the first step in providing a proper regulatory framework for drone usage in various economic sectors and by consumers. The next steps refer to clarification throughout the ecosystem, from the creation of the software and hardware to distribution and use, by reference to potential threats that can lead to economic damages caused to or by the drone. As in the case of cars or other types of vehicles, the economic damages that a drone can cause are generally greater than those which the average IoT can cause. For this reason, the legal requirements aimed at preventing economic damages (especially caused by cyber-attacks) and those aimed at clarifying liability in case of incurred economic damages are essential [2].