The Cybersecurity Threat to Humanoid Robots. . . And Why It Should Matter To You

Can you and your business take any action steps from the possibility of cyberattacks on humanoid robots? Oh yes, you certainly can! And by the time you’ve read this, you’ll probably be looking for a way to take these steps as quickly as possible.

You’ve probably seen concepts of AI-powered humanoid robots becoming a more common part of life, business and modern culture. Maybe it’s the fulfillment of the vision in the Terminator films (probably without the sunglasses and the memorable lines), but this type of robot is quickly entering the mainstream.

And there’s a huge cybersecurity threat that comes with it.

First, how much is humanoid robotics growing?

According to a report from an organization known as Recorded Future, China is working to deploy up to 300 million AI-powered humanoid robots just to counter its own population decline.

When you’re used to having a billion people around and that number starts dropping, I guess you need to manufacture substitutes for people.

The robots in question are walking Internet-of-Things devices. If you saw a silhouette of one of these robots, you would think it was a person. And if they function the way China hopes, there could be several billion by 2060.

And guess what: The early models are proving to be easy marks for cybersecurity hackers. That’s because they are so broadly connected, the attack surface is huge. In one recent example, Unitree robots were compromised because a Bluetooth flaw made it easy for the attackers to engage in wireless hijacking.

Once a robot has been compromised, it can quickly descend into a role as a botnet.

This is a serious enough problem when we’re talking about robots that are just performing mundane, day-to-day tasks. It leaves companies open to industrial espionage and even physical threats – since a robot is not a computer. It can actually beat you up.

Imagine how much more serious the threat could be if we were talking about militarized robots. We must be concerned about this with certain kinds of drones already. All it takes is for a hacker to exploit vulnerabilities with connections and patching issues.

Now, as you sit in the office of your local company, you may be thinking, “Well that’s interesting but I probably won’t be deploying any AI-powered humanoid robots any time soon.”

Leaving aside the fact that you might be wrong about that – when technology innovations take off, they often become ubiquitous quickly – let’s just consider how the hackers are getting at these robots. It’s not really all that brilliant.

They’re exploiting connectivity weaknesses with devices that have lots of connections going on. The very thing that makes the robot such a powerful asset is also what makes it so open to attack.

Guess what else is that connected: Pretty much every aspect of your system.

Do you get email on both your computer and your phone? Does Google remember your activity on multiple devices? Can you control your TV or your home security system with an external device? Can you start your car with the same device?

With most people the answers to these questions are yes, and that connectivity is only expanding with each passing year. It’s the very same connectivity that makes those humanoid robots vulnerable.

And while you might think the robots are a more attractive target than you and your system, you have to also remember: You’re connected to a lot of other people, companies and organizations as well.

You’re probably less protected than the bigger targets, so if a hacker wants to get to a big target, the best way to do it might be to go through you and then exploit things like APIs.

The robots are making hackers work hard to come up with new attack strategies. And once they come up with them, they quickly realize they can use them on you too.

There are simple things a qualified expert can help you do to be prepared. There’s never been a better – or more urgent – time to do it than the start of 2026. Let’s talk. Contact me at 616.217.3019 or email dacarey@cybersynergies.io.