A host of criticism is almost always to be expected with the introduction of new and potentially revolutionary technologies. Take for example, the Google self-driving car, which has been under the watchful eye of skeptics everywhere since the announcement of its anticipated release. In September of last year, as an example, four of 50 or so test vehicles got into accidents and a recent study also revealed that autonomous cars might even be too safe to drive effectively on human-dominated roads. So, when news of a homemade $60 laser – reportedly capable of disabling a self-driving car – surfaced on the web, we can’t say we were too surprised.
HOW TO HALT A SELF-DRIVING CAR
According to Jonathan Petit, a security researcher at Security Innovation, a simple “laser pointer” can trick a vehicle into perceiving objects ahead of it when there are none. How is this possible? Well, a self-driving car is fitted with sensors, lasers and GPS technology, according to PC Mag, which allow the vehicle to navigate without added assistance from a driver.
THE LASER TECHNOLOGY IS BEHIND THE HACK
Today, most self-driving cars rely on Lidar laser-ranging technology, which creates 3D renderings of the cars’ surroundings through laser pulses. Unfortunately, this means that any standard laser pen, fitted with a pulse generator, could produce “ghost-like” projections that easily confuse the self-driving car system into thinking objects are in its pathway.
“I can spoof thousands of objects and basically carry out a denial of service attack on the tracking system so it’s not able to track real objects,” Petit told IEEE Spectrum.
For the time being, the hack has not been proven to work in a real life situation, as Petit has only tested it on the Lidar system itself. However, his test does highlight the need for more thorough testing to be conducted before any autonomous vehicles hit the road anytime soon. In the meantime, Petit’s findings will be presented at the Black Hat Europe conference, taking place in November.
