Manipulation can often be seen with us, whether it is people manipulating others for empathy or now technology too playing an equal if not insignificant role. Technology such as mobile manipulators (MMs), amalgamate the functionalities of autonomous mobile robots with robotic manipulators, enabling tasks such as collecting and tracking data remotely. MMs are connected through the precedent network types to provide remote access. Remote access has brought some issues such as maintaining the safety of the data collected by the mobile manipulator, worker safety and security access. Hackers are expected to get access and steal users’ data, conduct surveillance or even sabotage systems. “Unauthorised access to sensitive information stored in environments such as offices underscores the need for security measures. To counter this, encryption, authentication and access controls are essential safeguards. Additionally, vigilance and proactive measures are needed for identifying and addressing vulnerabilities to prevent exploitation in the evolving landscape of robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, among others” Sanjoy Paul, program director, tech and data, Hero Vired, a learn tech firm, told FE-TransformX.
Manipulated data market
According to a 2023 survey on cybersecurity readiness, more than half the surveyed senior business, tech, and security executives in India mentioned that cloud-related threats would be the leading risk to their organisation’s cybersecurity over the next 12 months. MMs are being utilised across diverse sectors, including agriculture, search and rescue, and healthcare, with the most observed applications being in logistics (49%) and manufacturing (33%), as per insights from MDPI. Industry experts believe that cybercriminals can misuse this data and use it for fraudulent activities. Reportedly in December 2021, six in 10 consumers in the United States (US) stated that companies, more than them, benefit from exchanging consumers’ personal data. Only 15% of respondents thought customers were profiting from trading private information, as per insights from Statista, a market research firm.
Experts believe that the misuse or security compromise of MMs can result in severe repercussions and pose significant challenges, including data loss, exposure of critical and sensitive information, financial losses, and physical injuries. MMs have the potential to exploit users for activities such as espionage and unauthorised data collection, including intercepting data transmitted over wireless networks. It is believed that these actions can have far-reaching implications, including threats to national security, among others. “ Rigorous scrutiny by government quality assurance agencies such as STQC and Cert-In should be conducted before deploying these machines in critical installations. These measures are essential to mitigate risks and ensure the safe and secure operation of mobile manipulators, safeguarding both data integrity and national security interests,” Devroop Dhar, co-founder and managing director, Primus Partners, a management consultancy, explained.
What’s next...
Industry experts believe that MMs can impact a host of sectors but the impact on each sector depends on the degree of its usage. Industry such as manufacturing, logistics and warehousing, among others, can experience its impact on a large scale, due to the heavy usage of MMs. MMs are expected to be designed for special functionalities by adapting their size, shape, payload, mobility and tools, among others. Case in point MM being used in the defence sector are drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used for surveillance purposes, executing commands and reporting intelligence back, Infrared integration for search, rescue and threat detection, deployment of heavy machinery and other equipment and a smaller simpler version for patrolling.
Critics argue that data manipulation might have the potential to initiate political wars. However, it is believed that large-scale usage of MMs is for industry applications so these tools being used for data extraction in political war seems a bit far-fetched thought. But nanotechnology can have an impact in that field. Data leakage is something that can occur anytime and it may not necessarily involve MMs. “ Improved firewall systems to thwart data leaks and threats can benefit the overall usage of MMs. The threats remain the same but the impact on industry can vary. There are regulatory frameworks in place for each industry and they need to be relooked at timely based on use cases to have an upper hand on their security,” Vishal Gupta, CEO and co-founder, Seclore, a cybersecurity platform, concluded.
