Ο Jonathan Petit, ερευνητής ασφαλείας στην Security Innovation, Inc. ανακάλυψε ότι μπορεί να ξεγελάσει εύκολα τους αισθητήρες LiDAR που χρησιμοποιούν τα αυτό-οδηγούμενα αυτοκίνητα για να τα επιβραδύνει ή και να τα σταματήσει απότομα με την αποστολή ενός απλού παλμού laser.
The LiDAR system means Light Detection and Ranging, and is a detection technology that can measure the distance of an object by sending a laser pulse by recording the amount of reflected light.
My technology is used and Google costs around 70.000 dollars (for each LiDAR detection unit it uses in the fleet with its self-propelled cars).
According to the interviews given by the researcher to SAE International - Automotive Engineering Magazine and at IEEE Spectrum for his upcoming speech at Black Hat Europe 2015 (Security Conference), Jonathan Petit said he was able to disrupt the smooth operation of this type of detection unit using a homemade electronic kit worth about 60 dollars.
Using off-the-shelf features (such as the basic laser light emission features in Arduino), Mr. Jonathan Petit was able to interfere with data of the car's sensors.
From the LiDAR crawler toolbox used by the car's computer to receive data from the surrounding environment, the attacker can give the car false indications of non-existent obstacles, making it easy to slow down or even stop it.
According to Petit's statements, the attack runs from distances up to 100 meters, and can make cars believe there are objects around them at distances from 20 to 350 meters.
Mr Petit did not say which self-guided cars were vulnerable, simply using the LIDAR system. Technology is reported to be using companies such as Google, Apple, Mercedes, Ford, and Toyota.
