Cyberbiosecurity
{{Short description|Emerging field of computer security}}
{{Lead rewrite|date=March 2022|reason=Not clear what the article is actually about}}
Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field at the intersection of cybersecurity and biosecurity.{{Cite journal|last1=Peccoud|first1=Jean|last2=Gallegos|first2=Jenna E.|last3=Murch|first3=Randall|last4=Buchholz|first4=Wallace G.|last5=Raman|first5=Sanjay|date=2018|title=Cyberbiosecurity: From Naive Trust to Risk Awareness|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29224719/|journal=Trends in Biotechnology|volume=36|issue=1|pages=4–7|doi=10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.10.012|issn=1879-3096|pmid=29224719}}{{Cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Lauren C.|last2=Connell|first2=Nancy D.|last3=Lewis|first3=Stephen M.|last4=Pauwels|first4=Eleonore|last5=Murch|first5=Randy S.|date=2019-06-06|title=Cyberbiosecurity: A Call for Cooperation in a New Threat Landscape|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|page=99|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00099|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6562220|pmid=31245363|doi-access=free}}{{Cite web|title=Mapping the Cyberbiosecurity Enterprise {{!}} Frontiers Research Topic|url=https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/8353/mapping-the-cyberbiosecurity-enterprise|access-date=2020-11-12|website=www.frontiersin.org}} The objective of cyberbiosecurity has been described as addressing "the potential for or actual malicious destruction, misuse, or exploitation of valuable information, processes, and material at the interface of the life sciences and digital worlds". Cyberbiosecurity is part of a system of measures that collectively aim to "Safeguard the Bioeconomy", an objective described by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine of the United States.{{Cite journal|last1=Murch|first1=Randall S.|last2=So|first2=William K.|last3=Buchholz|first3=Wallace G.|last4=Raman|first4=Sanjay|last5=Peccoud|first5=Jean|date=2018-04-05|title=Cyberbiosecurity: An Emerging New Discipline to Help Safeguard the Bioeconomy|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=6|page=39|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2018.00039|issn=2296-4185|pmc=5895716|pmid=29675411|doi-access=free}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25525/safeguarding-the-bioeconomy|title=Safeguarding the Bioeconomy|date=2020-01-14|publisher=National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine|isbn=978-0-309-49567-7|language=en|doi=10.17226/25525|pmid=32352690|s2cid=214395865}}
Cyberbiosecurity threats
Cyberbiosecurity threats are becoming increasingly important as technological progress continues to accelerate in fields such as artificial intelligence, automation, and synthetic biology.{{Cite journal|last=George|first=Asha M.|date=2019|title=The National Security Implications of Cyberbiosecurity|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|pages=51|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00051|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6438857|pmid=30968020|doi-access=free}} Moreover, not only is the pace of progress in these fields accelerating, but they are also becoming increasingly integrated, leading to a growing overlap that is generating new security vulnerabilities.{{Cite journal|last1=Schabacker|first1=Daniel S.|last2=Levy|first2=Leslie-Anne|last3=Evans|first3=Nate J.|last4=Fowler|first4=Jennifer M.|last5=Dickey|first5=Ellen A.|date=2019|title=Assessing Cyberbiosecurity Vulnerabilities and Infrastructure Resilience|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|language=en|volume=7|page=61|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00061|pmid=31001526|pmc=6455068|issn=2296-4185|doi-access=free}} Many of the potential risks from future progress in bioengineering that were identified by researchers fall within the bounds of cyberbiosecurity, for instance, the use of cyberattacks to exploit bio-automation for malicious purposes.{{Cite journal|last1=Wintle|first1=Bonnie C|last2=Boehm|first2=Christian R|last3=Rhodes|first3=Catherine|last4=Molloy|first4=Jennifer C|last5=Millett|first5=Piers|last6=Adam|first6=Laura|last7=Breitling|first7=Rainer|last8=Carlson|first8=Rob|last9=Casagrande|first9=Rocco|last10=Dando|first10=Malcolm|last11=Doubleday|first11=Robert|title=A transatlantic perspective on 20 emerging issues in biological engineering|journal=eLife|year=2017|volume=6|doi=10.7554/eLife.30247|issn=2050-084X|pmc=5685469|pmid=29132504 |doi-access=free }} Against this background, cyberbiosecurity measures are becoming increasingly important to prevent or protect against the misuse of innovations in the life sciences, including to reduce the proliferation risk of biological weapons. In recent years, there has been a growing amount of research characterizing cyberbiosecurity threats, including by conducting surveys on cyberbiosecurity risk perceptions in the biotech sector,{{Cite journal|last1=Millett|first1=Kathryn|last2=Dos Santos|first2=Eduardo|last3=Millett|first3=Piers D.|date=2019|title=Cyber-Biosecurity Risk Perceptions in the Biotech Sector|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|pages=136|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00136|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6593240|pmid=31275929|doi-access=free}} and offering first recommendations for measures to prevent or protect against these threats.{{Cite journal|last1=Reed|first1=J. Craig|last2=Dunaway|first2=Nicolas|date=2019|title=Cyberbiosecurity Implications for the Laboratory of the Future|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|pages=182|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00182|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6712584|pmid=31497596|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Mantle|first1=Jennifer L.|last2=Rammohan|first2=Jayan|last3=Romantseva|first3=Eugenia F.|last4=Welch|first4=Joel T.|last5=Kauffman|first5=Leah R.|last6=McCarthy|first6=Jim|last7=Schiel|first7=John|last8=Baker|first8=Jeffrey C.|last9=Strychalski|first9=Elizabeth A.|last10=Rogers|first10=Kelley C.|last11=Lee|first11=Kelvin H.|date=2019|title=Cyberbiosecurity for Biopharmaceutical Products|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|pages=116|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00116|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6554447|pmid=31214582|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Lauren C.|last2=Lewis|first2=Stephen M.|last3=Burnette|first3=Ryan N.|date=2019|title=Building Capacity for Cyberbiosecurity Training|journal=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology|volume=7|pages=112|doi=10.3389/fbioe.2019.00112|issn=2296-4185|pmc=6606988|pmid=31297367|doi-access=free}}Walsh, Patrick et al. (2021). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352478030_Threats_Risks_and_Vulnerabilities_At_the_Intersection_of_Digital_Bio_and_Health Threats, Risks and Vulnerabilities At the Intersection of Digital, Bio and Health]. Researchers have observed that in the future it may be critical to consider the risk of computer systems being exploited by adversarially created DNA.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/story/malware-dna-hack/ | title=Biohackers Encoded Malware in a Strand of DNA | magazine=Wired | last1=Greenberg | first1=Andy }}{{cite book | url=https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity17/technical-sessions/presentation/ney | isbn=9781931971409 | title=Computer Security, Privacy, and DNA Sequencing: Compromising Computers with Synthesized DNA, Privacy Leaks, and More | year=2017 | pages=765–779 | publisher=USENIX Association }}
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, some research has focused on the cyberbiosecurity implications of the pandemic.{{Cite journal|last=Mueller|first=Siguna|date=2020-09-25|title=Facing the 2020 Pandemic: What does Cyberbiosecurity want us to know to safeguard the future?|journal=Biosafety and Health|volume=3|issue=1|pages=11–21|doi=10.1016/j.bsheal.2020.09.007|issn=2590-0536|pmc=7518802|pmid=33015604}}