Electromagnetic Watermarking: exploiting IEMI effects for forensic tracking of UAVs

We introduce for the first time the concept of electromagnetic watermarking and investigate its practical application in the scope of forensic tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles. As they spread out in civilian contexts, they pose new threats for critical infrastructures. Neutralization techniques are designed, but the collateral damages are often not acceptable. Instead, a watermarking system which inserts information into the target in order to enable the verification of its presence at the incident can be an interesting solution. Electromagnetic watermarking exploits the effects of intentional electromagnetic interference to embed a watermark remotely into non cooperating targets.