Cesar Cerrudo and Lucas Apa from the cybersecurity firm IOActive said current and future robots have vulnerabilities which would allow hackers to spy and launch attacks on users.

The pair have identified nearly 50 vulnerabilities in home, business and industrial robots which could be exploited and potentially weaponised.

Mr Apa said: ”Our research shows proof that even non-military robots could be weaponised to cause harm.

“These robots don’t use bullets or explosives, but microphones, cameras, arms and legs.
“The difference is that they will be soon around us and we need to secure them now before it’s too late.”

Mr Apa warned that danger lurks in the home as he revealed how a 17inch (43.18cm) Alpha 2 “humanoid” robot from Ubtech – advertised as “your new family member” – could be programmed to violently jab a screwdriver.

He added: ”Maybe it’s small and it’s not really going to hurt right now, but the trend is that the robots are going to be more powerful.

“We tested industrial ones which are really heavy and powerful, and some of the attacks work with them.”
Mr Apa and his colleague in a January report claimed that half a dozen robot manufacturers’ products had similar vulnerabilities, but only a few of these problems had now been addressed by companies.

The news comes as a letter signed by more than 100 leading robotic experts urged the United Nations to ban the development of killer military robots and autonomous weapons.

Nathan Wenzler, chief security strategist at AsTech, said: “The potential impact to companies, and even countries, could be massive.
“Should an attacker exploit the vulnerability within the applications that control these robots.”

A spokesman for Rethink Robotics, which makes the Baxter and Sawyer assembly-line robots, said all but two issues – in the education and research versions of its robots – had been fixed.

“UBTECH is committed to maintaining the highest security standards in all of its products. As a result the company has conducted a full investigation into the claims made in the IoActive report regarding the Alpha 2 robot.

“The Alpha 2 robot was designed to be on an open-sourced platform where developers are encouraged to program their robots with code. UBTECH has fully addressed any concerns raised by IoActive that do not limit our developers from programming their Alpha 2.”

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