Steps to maximise robotics security with Ubuntu
Alex Cattle
on 1 April 2020
This article is more than 4 years old.
The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a popular open-source platform for advanced robotics. Its flexibility and ease-of-use make it well-suited to a wide array of robotics applications – however, these robots are not always sufficiently protected against security threats.
Opportunistic attacks are by far the most prevalent, and robots with inadequate ROS security make tempting targets for bad actors. With that in mind, approaching robotics security proactively is crucial to preventing breaches and saving resources in the long run. Security starts with the underlying operating system, and building robots on Ubuntu unlocks a number of easy, yet effective, measures for maximising protection against the most dominant threats.
Using the Raspberry Pi based model of TurtleBot3 as an example, this whitepaper details practical steps for securing robots on Ubuntu, including:
- How to minimise the attack surface by installing the Ubuntu Server image, and by disabling USB, IPv6, core dump, and other functionalities that are not in use.
- Enabling unattended upgrades to keep automatically up-to-date with the latest security vulnerability patches.
- Mitigating brute force attacks through SSH hardening and firewall configuration.
Fill out the form below to download the whitepaper:
IoT as a service
Bring an IoT device to market fast. Focus on your apps, we handle the rest. Canonical offers hardware bring up, app integration, knowledge transfer and engineering support to get your first device to market. App store and security updates guaranteed.
IoT app store
Build a platform ecosystem for connected devices to unlock new avenues for revenue generation. Get a secure, hosted and managed multi-tenant app store for your IoT devices.
Newsletter signup
Are you building a robot on top of Ubuntu and looking for a partner? Talk to us!
Related posts
Canonical announces public beta of optimized Ubuntu image for Qualcomm IoT platforms
Today Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, and Qualcomm® Technologies announce the official beta launch of the very first optimized image of Ubuntu for...
Deploying scalable AI and real-time robots at ROSCon 24
Another year, another ROSCon! This year we’re setting off to Odense, Denmark. At Canonical, we are excited to once again sponsor this event for a community...
TurtleBot3 OpenCR firmware update from a snap
The TurtleBot3 robot is a standard platform robot in the ROS community, and it’s a reference that Canonical knows well, since we’ve used it in our tutorials....