ROBOT FISH AND Ransomware, the act of demanding money by locking down devices and files

Can this robotic fish fool real fish into revealing their secrets?

SoFi isn't like other fish, but they don't seem to notice.

Pale and plump with a tail that swishes side-to-side, the one-eyed robotic fish was built by scientists at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

It is designed to swim naturally alongside other fish in open water and spy on them without raising suspicions or disturbing their natural habitat.

The un-tethered robot can use its camera to record behaviors of anything from sharks and whales to schools of tiny damselfish.

"With an instrument that does not impact the marine life, that is not scary or foreign to marine life, who knows what kind of magical and miraculous moments we can capture?" said Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, who worked on the project. "[It] will give us a better understanding of underwater phenomena."

The group, which includes Rus, Robert Katzschmann, Joseph DelPreto and Robert MacCurdy, introduced SoFi to the public on Wednesday in a new paper.

The researchers have taken the 18-inch-long faux fish for test swims in Fiji's Rainbow Reef, where it swam for up to 40 minutes in 50 feet of water. A diver directed the robot's movements from up to 32 feet away using a waterproofed Super Nintendo controller.

The outside of the robot is a combination of soft silicone rubber, flexible plastic and 3D-printed pieces. It uses a custom sound-based communication system developed by the team to receive movement instructions. The quiet motor-powered tail lets it mimic the quick-changing swimming patterns and movements of real fish. In addition, it touts sensors to help it avoid hitting or damaging marine environments like delicate reefs.

While making it move like a fish was tricky, Rus said the most challenging part of the design process was buoyancy control, allowing it to smoothly move up and down in the water.

The CSAIL department has been working on underwater image and recording systems for more than seven years, but this is the first project that attempts to mimic the appearance and movements of fish so realistically.

The team intends to make SoFi even smarter so it can make decisions without a human diver feeding it instruction and move in a coordinated group of robot fish.

The researchers ultimately want to bring the tech to biologists, who could benefit from a new way of collecting data and observations about ocean life and the impacts of climate change.

Ransomware, the act of demanding money by locking down devices and files

Researchers at security firm IOActive have successfully conducted a ransomware attack on a SoftBank Robotics NAO humanoid robot.

Designed for schools and businesses, NAO and its more popular sibling Pepper are robots equipped with microphones and cameras. They're typically used in classrooms, retail stores, and offices for customer assistance.

After installing ransomware on the robot, the security firm was able to get it to demand bitcoin. The researchers could modify system files and the robot's behavior, such as forcing it to say threatening messages.

The team also noted a hacked robot's potential ability to steal stored data, say curse words, or display controversial content such as pornography if it has a screen.

"Ransomware for robots is a real threat with potentially huge economic implications for businesses -- even more than regular ransomware," the researchers wrote in a report published Friday.

As robots become increasingly commonplace, from smart speakers like Amazon Echo to manufacturing plants, it's a reminder of the threats that could disrupt our lives.

In IOActive's case, the ransomware installation required the same Wi-Fi network as the robot. This means the hack had to take place nearby; if a robot is connected to a retail store's public internet, a hacker would need access to its Wi-Fi network to compromise the device.

The experiment followed IOActive's work last year that discovered 50 vulnerabilities in robots manufactured by a number of vendors, including SoftBank Robotics. To further their research, IOActive created a proof-of-concept ransomware attack on the NAO robot. Because it was developed in a similar way, the attack would also likely work on Pepper.

IOActive said researchers alerted SoftBank Robotics to the security issues in January 2017, but the company has not yet fixed the flaws.

"When in use of Pepper, we ask to maintain the wifi network security, and also to set the robot passwords correctly. We will continue to improve our security measures on Pepper, so we can counter any risks we may face," the firm said in a statement.

The researchers said fixing a robot controlled by ransomware requires a specialized technician. A robot owner might have to send the robot back to the vendor for repairs, which could be costly.

The financial cost of general ransomware on businesses is significant. Small businesses can lose hundreds thousands of dollars and days of productivity due to disruptions in their services. At large corporations, the cost can be even higher.

Last year, the WannaCry ransomware attack shut down hospitals in the UK, which were forced to turn patients away due to computer issues. The malware also infected a Honda plant in Japan and disrupted vehicle production.

Although the IOActive research didn't harm a business or consumer, it's an example of the potential issues of robots and connected devices. The more gadgets become a part of the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) -- which includes products like internet-connected lightbulbs, smart TVs and speakers -- the more opportunities hackers have to conduct cyberattacks.

"Robots are IoT on steroids," said Cesar Cerrudo, CTO at IOActive. "And the impact of ransomware is much bigger, as it directly affects business production and services."