Cyber Security of Social Robots and the Internet of Things

Researcher: Matthew Kinzler Mentor: Dr. Debbie Perouli

Goals

• Learn about common practices developers use to build an Internet of Things (IoT) system where some action is taken based on sensor data.
• Learn how to setup and program at least one personal assistant or social robot (such as Google Home or the JD Humanoid from EZ Robots)
• Design and develop an IoT system that includes at least one sensor producing data that is sent to a personal assistant. The data will either be communicated directly or through a cloud connection.
• Brainstorm and research the literature on security threats and vulnerabilities pertaining to such IoT systems. Focus on those that are specific to systems including personal assistants.
• Outline possible ways to protect from at least one such threat/vulnerability.
• Interact with Google Home; record voice commands and responses; comment on usability.

Milestones

} Week 2 - Start Learning Latex and Further Research into Different IoT Architectures - Decide on the IoT software architecture we want to use for our project, at least to start with, while keeping the cybersecurity ramifications in mind - Start learning Latex and adding research papers to bibliography - Set up Google Home Week 3 - Write the code for one microcontroller and sensor setup - Learn how to create a network connection between this microcontroller and another device (e.g. laptop) that belongs to the same Wifi network - Connect to a third party, free cloud Week 4 - Write the code for the other microcontroller and sensor setup - Create appropriate network connections to the cloud and/or to devices in the same Wifi network - Work on presentation Week 5 - Connect Google Home to the system Week 6 - If everything is complete by this point, add the robot to the system. Week 7 - Brainstorm and research the security vulnerabilities of the system; try to compromise the system. Week 8 - Continue work on compromising and protecting the system; start writing research paper Week 9 - Continue work from previous two weeks; create poster. Week 10 - Finish research paper and poster

Week 1 - Orientation and Research General Topics	* Go through orientation and get set up in lab * Research general topics such as networking layers and different IoT architectures; learn about the sensors and microcontrollers that will be used in this project