Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field at the intersection of

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, th ...

and

biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, etc.) to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, thes ...

. 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 The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrell ...

of the United States.

Cyberbiosecurity threats

Cyberbiosecurity threats are becoming increasingly important as technological progress continues to accelerate in fields such as

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, and

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature. It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...

. 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. 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. 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 A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrori ...

. 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, and offering first recommendations for measures to prevent or protect against these threats. Researchers have observed that in the future it may be critical to consider the risk of computer systems being exploited by adversarially created DNA. In light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, 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

References

Biosecurity Computer security