LONDON: Driverless cars vulnerable to paralysis through laser hack attack
Laser hack attack can paralyze driverless cars and trick them to take evasive action
According to security research, hackers can easily fool self-driving cars by exploiting its laser navigation systems and sensors and making it to think that another car, a person or an obstacle is in front of them and force it to take evasive action.
The Lidar 3D imaging systems, which the self-driving vehicles use to navigate and build a picture of their surroundings, are tricked by the hackers by using a cheap low-power laser making them to think that there is something in front of them forcing them to slow, stop or take evasive action.
Dr Jonathan Petit, a former research fellow in the University of Cork’s Computer Security Group and a principal scientist with a focus on connected vehicles and consultation services at Security Innovation, discovered the exploit while conducting research into the cyber susceptibilities of autonomous vehicles.
