Cybersecurity of Teleoperated Quadruped Robots: A Systematic Survey of Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Open Defense Gaps

A comprehensive new survey paper by researcher Mohammad Sabouri systematically analyzes the cybersecurity landscape for teleoperated quadruped robots, revealing significant vulnerabilities in platforms increasingly deployed for industrial inspection, military reconnaissance, and emergency response. The research synthesizes peer-reviewed literature and vulnerability disclosures from 2019-2025, creating a six-layer attack taxonomy that spans perception manipulation, VR/AR operator targeting, communication disruption, control signal attacks, localization spoofing, and network intrusion. The survey specifically examines commercial platforms including Boston Dynamics Spot and identifies distinct security challenges arising from these robots' dynamic stability constraints, gait-dependent vulnerability windows, and substantial kinetic energy.

The paper provides a systematic attack-to-consequence mapping with timing characterization and exposes critical maturity gaps in current defenses. While field-deployed communication protections have reached Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 7-9, experimental perception and operator-layer defenses remain at TRL 3-5, creating dangerous security disparities. The research includes comparative security analysis of six commercial platforms and offers pragmatic deployment guidance stratified by implementation timeline. Most importantly, the survey identifies eight prioritized research gaps with implementation roadmaps, providing a clear path forward for securing these increasingly prevalent robotic systems in high-stakes environments.