Cybersecurity and Embodiment Integrity for Modern Robots: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract: Thanks to new technologies and communication paradigms, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Robotic Operating System (ROS), modern robots can be built by combining heterogeneous standard devices in a single embodiment. Although this approach brings high degrees of modularity, it also yields uncertainty, with regard to providing cybersecurity assurances and guarantees on the integrity of the embodiment. In this paper, first we illustrate how cyberattacks on different devices can have radically different consequences on the robot's ability to complete its tasks and preserve its embodiment. We also claim that modern robots should have self-awareness for what concerns such aspects, and formulate in two propositions the different characteristics that robots should integrate for doing so. Then, we show how these propositions relate to two established cybersecurity frameworks, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and the MITRE ATT&CK, and we argue that achieving these propositions requires that robots possess at least three properties for mapping devices and tasks. Last, we reflect on how these three properties could be achieved in a larger conceptual framework.