Invisible Reflections: Leveraging Infrared Laser Reflections to Target Traffic Sign Perception

Takami Sato

Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium 2024 · Day 3 · Physical-layer Attacks

This talk introduces a groundbreaking and concerning vulnerability for **Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs)**: the **Infrared Laser Reflection (ILR) attack**. Presented by Takami Sato, this research highlights how an adversary can manipulate a CAV's traffic sign recognition system using invisible infrared laser light reflected off traffic signs. The core problem addressed is the limitations of prior **physical adversarial attacks**, which, despite their effectiveness, are visually detectable by humans. The ILR attack, in contrast, is entirely imperceptible to the human eye, leveraging the sensitivity of **filterless image sensors** common in some CAV cameras and the unique properties of **coherent laser light**.