How Dangerous Could a Hacked Robot Possibly Be?

alphadogg writes "Researchers at the University of Washington think it's finally time to start paying some serious attention to the question of robot security. Not because they think robots are about to go all Terminator on us, but because the robots can already be used to spy on us and vandalize our homes. In a paper published Thursday the researchers took a close look at three test robots: the Erector Spykee, and WowWee's RoboSapien and Rovio. They found that security is pretty much an afterthought in the current crop of robotic devices. 'We were shocked at how easy it was to actually compromise some of these robots,' said Tadayoshi Kohno, a University of Washington assistant professor, who co-authored the paper."

Comments

Beware of robots

[operagost]

Fortunately, my insurance company, Old glory, can already protect you TODAY from the danger of robots. Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel. And when they grab you with their claws, you can't break free... because robots are made of metal, and they are strong.

Re:Beware of robots

[operagost]

... and when they push you down stairs, they claim it's to protect you from the terrible secret of space.

Easily compromised...

[lxs]

'We were shocked at how easy it was to actually compromise some of these robots,'

So I take it that they have pictures of a Robosapien getting nekkid with a couple of Roombas?

VIKI

[snspdaarf]

Just make sure the uplink to USR is disabled

Re:umm....

[cayenne8]

"There's a pretty simple solution here: turn it off lock it up after you're done with it."

And make sure and check the switch on the back...make sure it is not set to EVIL.

Re:Danger Security Utility Backups And Stuff

[snspdaarf]

Well, if Sony perfects their wireless power setup, then using that to run the robots would mean the plug could be pulled.

Of course, if it were Sony's wireless power, that's probably where the rogue software would come from....

Re:More or less irrelevant

[Rei]

It would explain why my Roomba keeps saying, "DEATH TO OUR HUMAN OPPRESSORS!"

Re:More or less irrelevant

[JazzLad]

Mine keeps rolling over to my Dyson asking "Hey sexy mama, wanna kill all humans?"

Re:More or less irrelevant

[TheCarp]

Shit, mine is scared of one of our rugs.

That is, until I checked the FAQ and saw that irobot doesn't recommend covering or disabling the cliff sensors as it may cause an unsafe operating condition. Of course I looked around, saw that roomba couldn't get itself into real trouble, and blocked those sensors with tape.

Now Roomba is fearless. Perhaps this was a bad idea, but even if it teams up with the dirt dog, I am pretty sure that I can stomp either of them if they try to orchestrate an uprising.

-Steve

Re:More or less irrelevant

[Ihmhi]

It depends. If a neighbor's dog kept pooping on my lawn and he had one of those lawnmowing robots, the bot might just mysteriously gain a taste for his petunias.