Snippets: Robots easy to hack

Some of the most popular industrial and consumer robots are dangerously easy to hack and could be turned into bugging devices or weapons, according to IOActive Inc. The Seattle-based cyber security firm found major security flaws in industrial models sold by Universal Robots, a division of U.S. technology company Teradyne Inc.

The company also cited issues with consumer robots Pepper and NAO, which are manufactured by Japan’s Softbank Group Corp., and the Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 made by China-based UBTech Robotics. These vulnerabilities identified by the security firm could allow the robots to be turned into surveillance devices,