Updated August 15, 2017 09:50:12 <\/p>\n
Imagine having a robot in your kitchen which is capable of cooking you dinner. <\/p>\n
Well, for some it will soon be a reality. Now imagine what happens if your cooking robot is hijacked? <\/p>\n
Dr Nicholas Patterson, a cyber security lecturer at Deakin University, has to take more than just the average laptop or smartphone into account nowadays; he also has to plan for if or when a robo chef is hacked. <\/p>\n
\"Think about if someone does hack that, how powerful it could be it's wielding knives and God knows what else,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"Cyber security for robots is still a really new area, but I've spotted the holes quite early so I can see it's going to be a big problem. <\/p>\n
\"Someone in a certain country overseas can hack a robot in Australia and take control of that, spy on you, or attack you. <\/p>\n
\"You don't have to be in the next street or next house; you can be in another country.\" <\/p>\n
Dr Patterson said robotic hacking had the potential to put a halt on the robotics industry. <\/p>\n
With things such as robotic vacuum cleaners and drones becoming more common household items, he said other consumer robotics would be introduced a lot sooner than people thought. <\/p>\n
By 2019, Dr Patterson said we could see up to 1.4 million new industrial robots installed in factories globally, and more would begin entering our homes as technology advanced at an alarming rate. <\/p>\n
According to Dr Patterson, smaller robots might not pose much of a physical threat, however their speakers and microphones could be used to listen in to people's conversations. <\/p>\n
\"The larger ones are probably more the physical threat, like your robotic chef or the industrial type of robots,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"The industrial ones are upwards of 200 pounds and they have things like lasers, welding devices and the clamping devices.\" <\/p>\n
An SUV was hacked in the United States just last year. <\/p>\n
\"They could take over control of the car while it was mid-driving,\" Dr Patterson said. <\/p>\n
He said in the past a person had also been able to hack into an airplane mid-flight. <\/p>\n
\"I think we're too much focused on laptops and phones, but there's these new avenues which are not looked at as much in terms of robots and passenger planes.\" <\/p>\n
To prevent robotic hacking, Dr Patterson suggests updating anti-malware software and turning off Bluetooth and the wi-fi on robotic devices when not required. <\/p>\n
He also recommends regularly changing the password you use to access the robot. <\/p>\n
\"Any remote doorways into the robot you want to switch off as best you can. <\/p>\n
\"Do we really need internet on a fridge or a TV? Probably not. <\/p>\n
\"Do we need it in a car? Yes, it helps download the GPS maps much more easily, but do we need that really?\" <\/p>\n
He said not only did it have the potential to cause problems surrounding privacy, but it could risk people's lives as well. <\/p>\n
Topics: robots-and-artificial-intelligence, hacking, computers-and-technology, internet-culture, internet-technology, canberra-2600, australia, united-states <\/p>\n
First posted August 15, 2017 07:30:00 <\/p>\n
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More: <\/p>\n
Robot hijacking threat in homes, cars could paralyse robotics industry, cyber expert warns - ABC Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Updated August 15, 2017 09:50:12 Imagine having a robot in your kitchen which is capable of cooking you dinner. Continue reading