IOActive exposed Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability numerous vulnerabilities found in multiple home , business , and industrial robots available on the market today . The array of vulnerabilities identified in Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability the systems evaluated included many graded as high or critical risk , leaving the robots highly susceptible to attack . Attackers could employ the issues found Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability to maliciously spy via the robot ’ s microphone and camera , leak personal or business data , and in extreme cases , cause serious physical harm or damage to people and property in the vicinity of a hacked robot . “ There ’ s no doubt that robots and the application of Artificial Intelligence have become the new norm and the way of the future , ” said Cesar Cerrudo , CTO at IOActive . “ Robots will soon be everywhere – from toys to personal assistants to manufacturing workers – the list is endless . Given this proliferation , focusing on cybersecurity is vital in ensuring these robots are safe and don ’ t present serious cyber or physical threats to the people and organisations they ’ re intended to serve ” . During the past six months , IOActive ’ s researchers tested mobile applications , robot operating systems , firmware images , and other software in order to identify Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability the flaws in several robots from vendors , including : “ In this research , we focused on home , business , and industrial robots , in addition to robot control software used by several robot vendors , ” said Lucas Apa , Senior Security Consultant at IOActive . “ Given the huge attack surface , we found Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability nearly 50 cybersecurity vulnerabilities in our initial research alone , ranging from insecure communications and authentication issues , to weak cryptography , memory corruption , and privacy problems , just to name a few ” . According to Cerrudo and Apa , once a vulnerability has been exploited Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability , a hacker could potentially gain control of the robot for cyber espionage , turn a robot into an insider threat , use a robot to expose private information , or cause a robot to perform unwanted actions when interacting with people , business operations , or other robots . In the most extreme cases , robots could be used to cause serious physical damage and harm to people and property . As robots become smarter , threats will also increase . Hacked robots could start fires in a kitchen by tampering with electricity , or potentially poison family members and pets by mixing toxic substances in with food or drinks . Family members and pets could be in further peril if a hacked robot was able to grab and manipulate sharp objects . “ We have already begun to see incidents involving malfunctioning robots doing serious damage to their surroundings , from simple property damage to loss of human life , and the situation will only worsen as the industry evolves and robot adoption continues to grow , ” continued Cerrudo .