Cybersecurity in Autonomous Systems: Hardening ROS Using Encrypted Communications and Semantic Rules

Abstract

Cybersecurity in autonomous systems is a growing concern. Currently most research robotic systems are built using ROS framework, along with other commercial software. The goal of this paper is to improve ROS security features by using encrypted communications and semantic rules to ensure a correct behavior. To encrypt communications, Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm has been applied. Then, the framework ROSRV has been used to define semantic rules for ROS messages. In order to test this proposal, two experiments have been carried out: in the first one, plain-text messages are not allowed and must be blocked; in the second one, rules for detecting denial of service attacks are tested against a real attack performed on a Real-Time Locating System, used by a mobile robot to estimate its location.