On potential security threats against rescue robotic systems

Remotely operated robots can be used for rescue and recovery in natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, including battlefield environments. But, what if the robot is taken over and turned into a weapon? In this paper, we consider the type of attacks that might occur and their implications on rescue and recovery missions. From this, we introduce a notion of telerobotic security and propose some ideas to ensure that rescue systems are “teleoperation secure” against one likely exploit.