Review of Potential Attacks on Robotic Swarms

Abstract

Much research has been undertaken in the area of swarm robotics and applications the vast majority of which assumes a benign operational environment. We assume a hostile environment and review the threats to robotic swarms. We then define an adversary’s capabilities and classify generic attack types and attack vectors that may be undertaken by this adversary. We conclude that while the threats to a swarm are no different to those for traditional systems, there are differences with the attack types and attack vectors. This is primarily due to the ability to manipulate the emergent behaviour of the swarm by attacking individual swarm elements. We identify characteristics of the swarm that allow such attacks to take place.