See what’s new on Tech Briefs, including a three-layer way of securing the growing number of 3D-printed parts being placed in today’s vehicles and airplanes.
Just one year ago, researchers from three universities demonstrated a way to hack a 3D-printed drone.
By getting a victim to open a compromised archived document, the teams from the University of South Alabama, Ben-Gurion University, and Singapore University of Technology and Design showed that an attacker could modify a printer’s stereolithography (STL) design files.
The engineers gave new, hacked instructions to the 3D printer: Make a propeller with holes in it.
The demo shows how the faulty propeller caused the unmanned aircraft to fall from the sky.
As leading automotive manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz announce the printing of metal truck parts and companies like GE develop a jet engine with 19 3D-printed fuel nozzles, engineers face a new challenge: verifying their designs.
Imagine the consequences of a hacked 3D-printed brake or plane part.
Dr. Raheem Beyah, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has a three-layer way of certifying that an additively manufactured part has not been compromised.
The first security “layer” requires the embedding of tiny particles into a standard filament. In theory, a user places the gold nanorods in select locations throughout the object. Beyah's technique creates a kind of “watermark” known only to the part’s creator.
The Georgia Tech professor spoke with Tech Briefs. Read the web-exclusive article: Three-Layer System Protects Parts from Hackers.
What do you think? Will this security method work? Are you concerned about the security of 3D-printed parts? Share your comments below.
Tech Briefs hosts a variety of valuable content highlighting 3D-printing trends. Here’s a look at some of my favorites, including a Q&A with the inventor of the stereolithography apparatus.
- Having trouble selling additive manufacturing to the organization? Our 3D-printing pro shares how a “parallel approach” can sway program managers.
- How has the additive-manufacturing market changed in the last 5 years? Industry analyst Terry Wohlers reviews The 3D Printing Landscape: Then and Now.
- Additive manufacturing presents many exciting possibilities. See which two areas are most exciting to Chuck Hull, the inventor of the 3D printer.
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