Hackers can trick self-driving cars into taking evasive action

Lidar sensor can be fooled into seeing fake people, cyclists, cars or walls with a $60 system built out of Raspberry Pi and a laser pointer

Hackers can easily trick self-driving cars into thinking that another car, a wall or a person is in front of them, potentially paralysing it or forcing it to take evasive action.

Automated cars use laser ranging systems, known as lidar, to image the world around them and allow their computer systems to identify and track objects. But a tool similar to a laser pointer and costing less than $60 can be used to confuse lidar.