Security News > 2020 > February > Tesla Autopilot Duped By ‘Phantom’ Images

The Mobileye 630 PRO and Tesla's HW 2.5 autopilot system, which comes embedded in the Tesla Model X. On the scale of level 0 to level 5, these two systems are considered "Level 2" automation.

In one instance, researchers showed how they were able to cause the Tesla Model X to brake suddenly due to a phantom image, perceived as a person, projected in front of the car.

In another case, they were able to cause the Tesla Model X's system to deviate to a lane of oncoming traffic by projecting phantom lanes that veered toward the other side of the road. Researchers said that phantom attacks have not yet been encountered in the wild.

Tesla told researchers that it would not "Comment" on the findings since some of the research involved utilized an "Experimental" stop sign recognition system for the autopilot and had thus changed the configuration of the vehicle.

Researchers for their part say that configuring ADAS systems so that they take into account objects' context, reflected light, and surface would help mitigate the issue as it would provide better detection around phantom images.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/tesla-autopilot-duped-by-phantom-images/152491/