Published to Whisper Club: August 10, 2026ID: TBW2096
Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
This Whisper Report investigates what the most underrated UAV use case in industry. Filmed at Commercial UAV Expo 2025 in Las Vegas, it examines how drone applications are expanding in ways many organizations are overlooking. Experts explore where these capabilities are delivering unexpected value across industries. Cited experts: Dustin Brewer Zepher, Josh Woodruf AirData UAV, Kaitlyn Albertoli Buzz Solutions, Robb Monkman Teal.io, Antonio Ruan Starling, Ross Davis blueflite, Kevin Teen Aloft, Vic Moss DSPA, Bill Reynolds Central UAS Technologies, Thad King Multicopter Warehouse, Sara Abdi Parallel Flight Technologies, Federico di Napoli FlyingBasket.
ISC West 2026 brought the physical cyber security community to Las Vegas and the Venetian Expo for a week of live demonstrations, field conversations, and on‑floor video. Coverage spans frictionless screening, threat detection, control infrastructure, and emerging AI and identity capabilities, reflecting how vendors are approaching scale, connectivity, and modernization across real‑world security environments globally.
Cautions
Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.
Just because a technology can do something in general doesn’t mean it will work in your environment. It is critical to validate a technology including its false positive and error rates.
One of our first stops was technology everyone at the show wished TSA Adopted yesterday! Xtract One Technologies enables screening without stopping and unpacking one’s bags! The technology provides an image of the person with the threat in their bag, identifies the threat and its location within the bag without slowing down pedestrian traffic through the screening gate.
Physical security systems have a variety of access systems from badge readers to keys. The problem with keys is key management. Introducing InVue’s OneKEY, an adaptable smart key and related system. If you think the best part is only having one key, versus the notorious janitor key ring you are in for a treat! This smart key can communicate via IR to unlock devices and provide wireless energy transfer to lock mechanisms. Furthermore, every action is tracked, logged and fully auditable.
Common to all physical security systems, is equipment that is plugged in and subject to power surge damage. DITEK was in expo hall with their exciting modular surge protection solution. The time saving feature of being able to simply replace a module after end of life versus the entire surge protector is sure to be popular. Hot Swapping modules are easier to change than a printer cartridge. Friendly reminder that licensed electrical contractors are generally required to service 120 volts and up.
Identification of objects with surveillance videos is another tough challenge that was taken on by Everon. Their combination hardware, software, and processes solution is focused on deterring unwanted activity in its protected space.
Physical Cyber Security solutions often involve communications from the field where it can be noisy. Whether the noise comes from the chaos of the emergency or is inherit in the location such as security at an F1 race, it doesn’t matter. The human voice communication must still be possible! Roanwell Corporation also shared their adjustable noise suppression solution leveraged by security personnel, first responders, fire fighters, and war fighters like.
These threat detection and response systems also cannot function in isolation. They must stay connected Teal.io’s eSIM solution provides the ultimate in reliable mission-critical connectivity. Their global technology ensures devices always connect to the best available network. The best part? Their solution frictionlessly provides connectivity so surveillance and robotics solutions can effectively stay in communication.
At the other end of the spectrum, some organizations require surveillance systems that are deliberately disconnected. RGB Spectrum provides air‑gapped security for surveillance environments designed to operate on isolated networks—or no network at all. By leveraging unidirectional HDMI sharing, RGB Spectrum demonstrated an approach intended to prevent external access paths, positioning the system, by their design, as resistant to remote compromise.
Scaling is their middle name at Matrix ComSec. Matrix ComSec manufactures surveillance cameras and access control hardware with a system capacity of 4 to 96 channels. To provide further context, a single gadget can support up to 255 doors.
Focusing on the control center and providing a unified pane of glass for clients, Hartman Controls welcomed all with their booth right outside Expo Hall’s Main Entrance. Established in 1998, Hartman’s engineering-first approach provides hardware flexibility offering traditional and edge-style enclosures. The solution can be deployed on premise, the cloud and is easy to migrate in either direction should your architecture and requirements change.
Maintain the theme of cloud or on-premise availability, Keri Systems shared their Open Platform for access solutions. In addition, Keri’s flexibility enables it to support up to 12-13 different hardware platforms. Furthermore, the product is built to explicitly support multiple vertical markets.
One difficulty in purchasing security equipment is many of the manufacturers started in one sector such as fire. Then after success they expanded by creating another isolated division for go to market. Napco took a different approach. Napco is an integrated security manufacturer providing a single ecosystems spanning fire alarms, access control, security systems, and locks.
Many organizations regardless of their size may not be large buyers when it comes to physical security equipment. In these circumstances it is common for organizations to leverage buyers’ groups. PSA is a buyers group for this space with terms up to 120-day terms for its clients.
IQSIGHT, formerly Bosch Video, operates across hardware, video management, and analytics with capabilities that now include generative AI. Their specialty? Providing the WHY behind what you are seeing through, what they like to call, careful, thoughtful, deployment of generative AI. Today, context is everything.
Moving beyond video capture and on to surveillance intelligence, March Networks was excited to share their new brand resulting from their merger with Vivotek under the Delta Group. By layering advanced business intelligence directly onto their video surveillance systems, they are enabling organizations to transform raw visual data into actionable insights that drive operational improvements and increase profitability.
Many organizations already have the security equipment, the cameras, and video installed. Today the challenge is getting AI for all this physical security equipment without replacing it all! Stepping up to the plate is omniQ, ready to bring AI to physical security equipment at your organization.
Safetrust is known for being major supporters of open IoT-based ecosystems. Manufacturing advanced sensors and equipment Safetrust also produces the software to access the sensors. Their key disrupters are cloud-based firmware updates, federated identities, and an interesting neural adapter panel. This panel eliminates the need for expensive hardware panels and related copper wiring. Specifically, the neural adapter panel functions by leveraging a combination of PoE (power over ethernet), panel emulation, and direct software connection. One final exciting feature, Safetrust is incorporating Dilithium and Kyber into their technology, providing post Quantum readiness.
Physical Cyber Security is often a fragmented, world of antiquated hardware being asked to provide sophisticated access control. The difficulty often can be simply connecting to the device to get its data into a system to enable any type of analytics or intelligence. Braxos understands this and brought their solution to ISC West with over 200 connectors. Their connectors span elevator systems, parking management, vending machines and intercoms.
After over 50 videos and two dozen fact checks, our coverage of ISC West 2026 closes. Registration was quite efficient IFF you printed your badge at home and went to the correct line; otherwise it may have been a flashback to your TSA experience to get to Vegas. Overall, it was a very engaged atmosphere where attendees could literally feel the momentum of the crowd. Everyone’s meetings seems to go as planned with the expected mixture of vendors. Enjoy the walkabout to and through expo hall. Venetians standard eateries were open throughout the convention including the various Bistros and the Café Presse locations.
We always try to bring you fresh perspective to our coverage of an event over prior coverage as well as new vendors but you will recognize many brands in the walkabout. For additional coverage in physical cyber security, cybersecurity and identity and access management enjoy our prior coverage of ISC West, Identiverse, and Black Hat USA 2025.
Unfortunately, the connectivity at the event was too challenging to be able to live stream. This also caused an interruption to upload videos in the hall versus from expo hall.
We conducted research for five additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.
Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: ISC West 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition. Be sure to monitor future broadcasts editions’ of Computer Talk Radio for the forthcoming coverage of ISC West 2026.
Finally, the video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending ISC West live in Las Vegas?”.
The ISC West 2027 will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Venetian Expo on March 31 through April 2, 2027.
*When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.
Published to clients: October 27, 2025 ID: TBW2094
Published to Readers: October 28, 2025
Whisper Email Release: TBD
Public/Video Release: TBD
Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
Abstract
This Whisper Report investigates the biggest UAV threat CIO’s are not ready for. CIOs are underestimating the scale and urgency of UAV-related risks. From electric infrastructure and jamming threats to data overload and geopolitical embargoes, this Whisper Report captures the 10 most pressing vulnerabilities revealed at CUAV Expo 2025 — and what enterprise leaders must do next.
Target Audience Titles:
Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Architect, Chief Data Officer, Chief Product Officer, Chief Experience Officer
VP Infrastructure, VP Security Operations, VP Data Strategy, Director of Physical Security, Director of Edge Computing, Director of OT Security
Red Team Lead, Incident Response Lead, Security Architects, DevSecOps Engineers, IAM Engineers, Penetration Tester
Key Takeaways
Impending bans on Chinese UAVs and rising tariffs are forcing urgent supply chain pivots.
Electric and communications infrastructure gaps are exposing UAV fleets to operational and security risks, especially in GPS-denied environments.
Most enterprises lack formal flight departments, leaving safety, training, and compliance dangerously underdeveloped.
Data volume and interoperability challenges are overwhelming existing IT systems, requiring new cloud and API strategies.
CIOs must prepare for regulatory volatility, secure delivery protocols, and the full replacement of helicopters in logistics.
We took the most frequently asked and most urgent technology questions straight to the commercial UAV professionals gathering at Commercial UAV Expo 2025 held in Las Vegas. This Whisper Report addresses the question regarding what’s the biggest UAV threat that Chief Information Officers are not ready for? Figure 1 contains an image of the 10 UAV Threats that CIO’s aren’t ready for.
The first threat was the absolute talk of the show held in Las Vegas. As GEODNET’s Amr Elkordy observed, “most people don’t realize that with the bill that passed last year, DJI might be fully banned from the US.” Or as Frontier Precision’s Wyatt Robbins shared there is a, “potential shift away from Chinese manufactured drones.” Of course, once they hit expo hall and spoke to distributors they learned the truth about their fleet. This created a flurry of activity as Wyatt went on to further explain, “companies and government agencies trying to find alternatives to maybe a DJI system or other Chinese manufacturing systems that they’re already currently buying.“
If your organization still wants to purchase drones from the Asian region, you may be artificially scared off by the Tariffs. IPET’s Joy Jiang is there for you. “Tariff strategies. We are an Asian company. Our products to some company like the North American or the Europe we still have some strategies about the tariff.” In other words, don’t assume anything about the impact to cost of their products based on the Tariffs. Rather speak with those deep in the details of the manufacturers before ruling out those manufacturers. Time will tell if they will be allowed in the future US or European airspace.
Our 3rd UAV threat arriving at our organizations’ Chief Information Officer’s door comes from Sarah Abdi at Parallel Flight Technologies. “The infrastructure that is required with all electric platforms.” Intrigued, let’s hear more! “ So if you have a remote logistics application for an application and you have an electric platform, you have to have your generator, you have to have fuel to power your generator, you have to have extra batteries on hand, which actually are extremely heavy. There’s a whole lot of infrastructure required with all electric platforms, which is why we’ve taken an approach of parallel hybrid. Um, all you need is a gas tank and you refuel this aircraft and you’re back up and running.” Thus hybrid drones share the same benefits many are familiar with in hybrid cars.
UAV’s require communication. It tells them where the controller wants them to go, it is used to send information back. It underlies the very purpose the drone was flown to begin with in many use cases.
As Teal.io’s Robb Monkman observed, our next threat is all about the, “invisible threat of connectivity.” Robb further explained, “more recently, people are starting to talk about the need for redundancy and failover.” TUALCOM’s Nicolas Speroni was more specific. “I believe the biggest threat is jamming. And then if a UAV needs to go through a totally GPS denied environment, TUALCOM USA has solutions for both of those and the anti-jamming and terrestrial navigation products.” For additional methods of handling GPS Denial see Conference Whispers: CUAV 2025.
Threat number 5 comes with an alert from USI’s Brad Tucker. “If you have a fleet of drones, you have a flight department.” That’s right. The only question is if you recognize and organize it. Brad continued, “that may not be something that is fully embraced as of yet, it needs to be pretty quickly, especially with the release of 108, obviously that’s going to be coming within the next 12 to 24 months. More than likely part 108 is coming in the next 12 months. So that means you have to be prepared for obviously safety protocols. You have to be prepared for training your workforce and certifying your workforce with the appropriate credentials.”
Now you have your flight department. Perhaps you organized your drone related employees with your Helicopter Pilots. Federico di Napoli from FlyingBaket has an update for you. “CIOS are not ready to hear about the drone is to the moment when the drone will completely substitute the helicopter for transport materials.” That is correct. For non-human cargo, the go forward solution is the simpler drone regardless of your cargo weight. So before that next expensive mechanical update to your helicopter – you may want to re-evaluate if that is the best solution based on current technology available via drones. Heavy cargo even for long periods of time is now possible. For additional information on the variety of commercial drones now available see Conference Whispers: CUAV Expo.
Removing the human in the helicopter to send cargo can create some complexities with certain cargo. blueflite’s Ross Davis brings our next threat. “chain of custody in drone delivery”. Interesting! Let’s hear more about this challenge from Ross. “Imagine if you have a really high value item such as prescription medication or perhaps like organ. When that’s delivered to a hospital or to a patient, we need to make sure that that person is actually receiving the person we intend to receive the object is the person who’s picked it up. So, you know, as how we address that is through scanning, QR codes, and authentication on the phone to make sure that that person is who they say they are. We could do facial recognition on the phone to basically sign into their account and we take ownership of that package.” Thus even a drone solution can require an advanced identity and access management solution to authenticate recipients and ensure proper, secure, operations. For additional research on identity and access management, see Conference Whispers: Identiverse.
Aloft’s Kevin Teen highlighted one of the most overwhelming threats. “the amount of data. All the different data points.” Kevin continued to provide context, “One drone flight, you’re producing four frames a second for as long as that drone’s in the air, altitude, speed, heading, hundreds of different variables. Once you start scaling that across dozens, hundreds of pilots now include videos that we’re taking. now include survey photos. You can just imagine the scale of the data and so dealing with different buckets you know whether that’s in SharePoint or S3 and now all we have disconnected processes.” But it is not just about collecting the data as Buzz Solutions Kaitlyn Albertoli emphasized. “Once we start to scale it and embed it more into the workflows, I don’t think utilities are ready for how much that data is going to be an impact to them. But it’s an exciting problem to have.” If you find yourself overwhelmed by all the data or lost in a data silo situation, be sure to schedule an inquiry with your analyst at TBW Advisors LLC. Having advised over 1100 organizations on their transformation, We have dealt with data volumes as large as zettabytes per day.
Central UAS’ Bill Reynolds contends that the largest threat, “is the demand for interoperability and integration with uh APIs for the massive amount of data exchange between the unmanned aircraft and the applications and the grower and farmer.” Having just been warned about the volume of data, the last thing a CIO and their team want to be concerned with is the interoperability of all the systems. This is a call to the CUAV industry to ensure standardization where possible and appropriate.
We will conclude with threat 10 and the other most talked about topic at CUAV Expo held in fabulous Las Vegas. Pelican Wire’s Frank Balsamo revealed threat number ten as, “the changing regulations in the environment that are out there from country to country.” While many are fretting FAA proposed Part 108, USA is only one country in a web of regulations. Frank went on further to explain, “as the technology evolves and becomes more available in the public to see how that plays out. in real time. So, I think as a business case, that’s going to be very interesting to watch.” In other words, it’s a nascent industry and the regulations are in the name of safety. Safe operations builds trust and helps the industry to expand. Helping the UAV industry expand is something everyone’s interest at the Commercial UAV Expo.
Published to clients: September 15, 2025ID: TBW2093
Published to readers: September 16, 2025
Published to Email Whispers: TBD
Public with video edition: TBD
Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
Photojournalist(s): D. Doreen Galli
Abstract:
“After 79 videos and 175 minutes of video including 3 livestreams and over 45 fact checks, out coverage of Commercial UAV Expo 2025 closes. Our coverage from Commercial UAV Expo 2025 explores the evolving landscape of drone innovation, enterprise operations, and regulatory strategy. This research highlights examples shared across keynotes, technologies, and industry use cases. Readers are encouraged to explore the full edition for insights into the trends shaping unmanned systems and their impact on commercial and strategic decision-making.”
After 79 videos and 175 minutes of video including 3 livestreams and over 45 fact checks, out coverage of Commercial UAV Expo 2025 closes. CUAV brought together over 3393 drone enthusiasts from over 62 countries. Registration had no lines whatsoever. We were able to capture the lunch served on Wednesday as well as breakfast on Thursday. This time we once again tried out the live streams with one on Tuesday requesting those attending to find me to answer Questions 1-3, Wednesday to let you know about upcoming events we have scheduled, as well as Thursday from Expo hall itself requesting assistance. Specifically I requested assistance on your favorite videos for my segment on the September 6th broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.
While at Commercial UAV Expo 2025, we conducted research for three additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available and will eventually fill in with the video version of the report so you may wish to bookmark these playlists.
Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Commercial UAV Expo 2025 Playlist in its entirety. Once the video edition is available, the playlist will be sited as a pinned comment on the video edition. It is also easy to locate any previous Conference Whispers playlists through TBW Advisors LLC corporate website.
At the Commercial UAV Expo we were excited we could cover the keynotes this year. The opening monologue set the stage. Buzz Solutions Kaitlyn Albertoli kicked off the event with 5 tips for overcoming inaction in your drone problem. This was followed by a great case study fireside chat with her client Dominion Energy. Dominion’s Thomas F. Butler emphasized that collaboration is the key to success. This was followed by a fascinating case study of how drones were used to capture the stunning beauty of the Grand Canyon.
Commercial UAV Expo’s team content manager, Matt Collins welcomed all back on Thursday morning. The Keynote panel was hosted by Cyberhawk’s CEO Chris Fleming. Collaboration was the key emphasis and produced one of our favorite quotes of the event. “Safety is not Proprietary”. The session also provided many insights for succeeding with FAA paperwork be it waivers or permits. The morning keynote was concluded with the awarding of the 2025 Eric Talley Memorial Award to Officer Matt Rowland.
When one attends a Commercial UAV expo, it is not unusual to see a lot of drones including a variety of specialty drones. IPET drones’ propellers and motors come as a set, easily snap on and off, and are notoriously quiet. These propellers also enable very quick maintenance. If you are seeking a variety of drones including nano drones, Ascent Aviation shared their wares. Need to cover remote areas? Starling’s drone in a box even can automatically manage between the three batteries possible in the box with the drone. Perhaps you need to deal with the chemicals of agriculture? Central UAS drones are specifically designed to handle the agricultural and pest spray space. If chain of custody regarding the cargo for applications such as medical deliveries, blueflite drones have you covered. Heavy cargo? FlyingBasket can handle 100 kilo cargo with a 200-kilo capable drone coming by year’s end. Parallel Flight Technologies are hybrid drones and can handle 100 pounds for 1.4 hours or 50 pounds for almost 3 hours. Finally if you want a tethered drone or want to convert your drone to a tethered drone, ELISTAIR came to Vegas all the way from France share their solution.
If you were seeking a distributor for drones, there were a number of options on site. One example was Frontier that represents product lines from over 40 different manufacturers. Another example was Multicopter. They consider themselves a drone provider with their advantage being NOT offering services. This eliminates competing with the manufacturers themselves. They enjoyed speaking both with drone manufacturers on site as well as customers seeking a great source to purchase their enterprise drones.
Finally, one of the great challenges for all drone manufacturers is testing their drones. Filing all that paperwork and enduring the FAA delays can interfere with business. Ukraine, represented by their San Fransico Consulate, Consul General Dmytro Kushneruk wanted drone manufacturers to know that you are welcome in Ukraine. Unlike the US, it is only a matter of a few weeks to get approval for testing. They also have scenarios not generally available. This has resulted in over 2,000 drone producers coming out of Ukraine.
A universal need for drones is the ability to communicate either back to their controller or back to the enterprise. Teal.io specializes in mission critical infrastructure. With one SIM card you can connect to 100’s a networks via a single pane of glass including the ability to switch networks. GEODNET represents the largest RTK network – real-time kinematics makes GPS significantly more accurate which is required with drones. If you are concerned about GPS getting jammed, TUALCOM operates in anti-jam, electronic warfare, data links, flight termination, terrestrial navigation, and 4G and 5G as well as telemetry devices. Of course, alternatively one could leverage Anello Photonics’ World’s smallest optical gyroscope to ensure your navigation in the event GPS is blocked, spoofed or jammed. This year they brought their new maritime solution to expo hall.
As many drone manufacturers are gathering, those creating components and parts for drone those very manufacturers are also exhibiting. On the power side, if you are familiar with the benefits and challenges of hydrogen, H2MOF does not store it as a gas or liquid – enjoy their video to learn more! Do you want to further reduce the weight of your aircraft? Are you hoping to save a little money over carbon fibre? Mag Materials, a magnesium specialist, may be the vendor you have been looking for. If you need LiDAR sensors but could use help on the entire end to end picture? Green Valley International is looking forward to speaking with you. Finally, if your drones deal with harsh, hot environments? Pelican Wire has heat resistant custom wire to fit your needs. In fact, they had three different types of specialized wire on display. In addition to the heat resistant, they shared their Thermocouple/RTD wires which measure temperature, resistance wires that generates heat, and various other custom engineered wire solutions for specific customer applications.
With the October 6, 2025, deadline to comment on Part 108 for the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking fast approaching – it was the talk of the town. We were able to capture an exclusive summary of the panel discussing everyone’s primary concerns. This conversation highlighted many areas of concern and critical tips to ensure your comments are counted and matter. Once 108 passes, many drone manufacturers may be seeking components that can enable compatibility with the rules. To that end, uAvioni has been developing technology aligned with the proposed rules and is ready to serve. Part 108 is all about making the skies safe and enabling objects to navigate amongst each other. For pilots have concerns, DSPA – drone service providers alliance -is a group advocating exclusively on behalf of pilots on the local and national level.
At the enterprise level, drone operations require a lot of strategic thought, planning and technology. We first heard of the enterprise AI powered visual intelligence of Buzz Solutions during the keynote. The emphasis is always getting all of the information out of the data you can for all the use cases available for a given data set. Collect once, use many times was a common theme at the event this year. AirData provides a fleet management solution to manage all your UAS fleets, pilots, certifications, checklists and the likes. If your industry requires the handling of special care cargo, Apco Defence has a highly innovative drone recovery systems with technology to provide a soft landing. If your challenge is understand where that fleet of drones and aircraft are flying, ALOFT can enable you to visualize your airspace.
Frequently, drones are requested in locations a great distance from population making them difficult jobs to accept. Some drone operators got together with Custome Trailers to create a remote operating hub for drone operators. The result is Drone Pro Trailer and the Drone Ops Company.
Pilots are a required part of every organization. If you want enable them to virtually practice, Zepher has your covered over a large variety of aircraft. Looking to prepare your pilots for certifications? USI shared their enterprise solution. Expanding the team? The Neuro Diversity Works organization may have just the talent you are seeking!
Commercial UAV Expo 2026 will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at Caesars Forum on September 1-3, 2026.
*When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.
