On content modification attacks in bilateral teleoperation systems

Yimeng Dong, Nirupam Gupta, Nikhil Chopra

Abstract: In this paper, content modification attacks on bilateral teleoperation system are investigated. The vulnerability of bilateral teleoperation systems to content modification attacks is initially studied, wherein the attacker can modify the states being exchanged between the master and the slave robot. Subsequently, a static malignant content modification attack (MCoMA) is introduced that ensures that the robot joint velocities are rendered unstable. A safety mechanism is then introduced to safeguard against static MCoMA. Finally, a dynamic subterfuge MCoMA that bypasses the safety mechanism is proposed. The efficacy of proposed attacks is studied using numerical simulations.