According to the University of Washington News http://uwnews.org, a team of researchers ran tests to evaluate the security of three consumer-level robots: the WowWee Rovio, a wireless, buglike rolling robot marketed to adults as a home surveillance tool that can be controlled over the Internet and includes a video camera, microphone and speaker; the Erector Spykee, a toy wireless Web-controlled “spy” robot that has a video camera, microphone and speaker; and the WowWee RoboSapien V2, a more dexterous toy robot controlled over short distances using an infrared remote control.
The concerns the researchers uncovered with the wireless robots include the fact that:
- The robots’ presence is easily detected by distinctive messages sent over the home’s wireless network.
- The robots’ audio and video streams can be intercepted on the home’s wireless network or in some cases captured over the Internet.
- Only some robots give an audible or other alert when a user logs on, letting people nearby know that someone new is accessing the data.
- Only some robots periodically generate a noise or other signal when stationary, reminding people nearby that the robot is collecting data.
The authors also identified scenarios in which a robot might physically harm its owner or the home environment. While the risks today are relatively small, researchers say they believe the risks will become more serious as robots become more widespread.
Read the entire article and accompanying report
The work was funded by the National Science Foundation and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellowship.