# Scanning the Internet for ROS: A View of Security in Robotics Research

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.03322 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.03322/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 23 Jul 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Reward Delay Attacks on Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.03540/) (2022)
- [Can You Still See Me?: Reconstructing Robot Operations Over End-to-End Encrypted Channels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.08426/) (2022)
- [Reconstructing Robot Operations via Radio-Frequency Side-Channel](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.10179/) (2022)
- [Design and implementation of intelligent packet filtering in IoT microcontroller-based devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19214/) (2023)
- [Automating Transfer of Robot Task Plans using Functorial Data Migrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.15961/) (2024)
- [Scoring the Unscorables: Cyber Risk Assessment Beyond Internet Scans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.06604/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Because robots can directly perceive and affect the physical world, security issues take on particular importance. In this paper, we describe the results of our work on scanning the entire IPv4 address space of the Internet for instances of the Robot Operating System (ROS), a widely used robotics platform for research. Our results identified that a number of hosts supporting ROS are exposed to the public Internet, thereby allowing anyone to access robotic sensors and actuators. As a proof of concept, and with consent, we were able to read image sensor information and move the robot of a research group in a US university. This paper gives an overview of our findings, including the geographic distribution of publicly-accessible platforms, the sorts of sensor and actuator data that is available, as well as the different kinds of robots and sensors that our scan uncovered. Additionally, we offer recommendations on best practices to mitigate these security issues in the future.