Robots running the industrial world are open to cyber attacks

Robots assembling Ford F-150 at the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, 2018. Some robots have flaws that could make them vulnerable to advanced hackers. — AFP

Industrial robots are now being used to assemble everything from airplanes to smartphones, using human-like arms to mechanically repeat the same processes over and over, thousands of times a day with nanometric precision.

But according to a new report entitled "Rogue Automation”, some robots have flaws that could make them vulnerable to advanced hackers, who could steal data or alter a robot’s movements remotely, like a scene out of science fiction.