Neurosecurity has been defined as "a version of
computer science security principles and methods applied to
neural engineering
Neural engineering (also known as neuroengineering) is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, or enhance neural systems. Neural engineers are uniquely qualified to solve desig ...
", or more fully, as "the protection of the
confidentiality
Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information.
Legal confidentiality
By law, lawyers are often required ...
,
integrity
Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. In ...
, and
availability
In reliability engineering, the term availability has the following meanings:
* The degree to which a system, subsystem or equipment is in a specified operable and committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at ...
of
neural devices from malicious parties with the goal of preserving the safety of a person’s neural mechanisms, neural computation, and
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to a ...
". Neurosecurity also refers to the application of neuroscience to behavioral information security to better understand and improve users' security behaviors. Neurosecurity is a distinct concept from
neuroethics
In philosophy and neuroscience, Neuroethics is the study of both the ethics of neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience comprises the bulk of work in neuroethics. It concerns the ethical, legal and social impact of ...
; neurosecurity is effectively a way of enforcing a set of neuroethical principles for a neural device. Neurosecurity is also distinct from the application of
neuroscience
Neuroscience is the science, scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a Multidisciplinary approach, multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, an ...
to
national security, a topic that is addressed in ''Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense'' by
Jonathan D. Moreno.
Th
Center for Neurotechnology Studiesof the
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, in Arlington, VA, USA works with a number of university and governmental partners on issues, problems and protocols for neurosecurity. James Giordano, Director of the Center, defines neurosecurity as "concepts, practices, guidelines and policies dedicated to identifying threats to, and preserving the integrity of neuro-psychiatric information about persons, groups and populations obtained in neuroscientific research and/or through the use of neurotechnologies (such as neuroimaging, neurofeedback, neurogenetics, and neuro-computational data banks) in medicine, the social sphere, and national intelligence and defense".
[Giordano J, Forsythe C, Olds J. Neuroscience, neurotechnology and national security: The need for preparedness and an ethics of responsible action. Am J Bioethics Neurosci 2010, 1(2): 35-36.]
Popular culture
* The
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
series ''
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' (2002–2003) prominently features hackers manipulating neural implants. One example is the
Laughing Man's use of hacking to interfere with the reports of eyewitnesses. In another example,
Major Kusanagi
Major , or just "Major", is the main protagonist in Masamune Shirow's '' Ghost in the Shell'' manga and anime series. She is a synthetic "full-body prosthesis" augmented- cybernetic human employed as the field commander of Public Security Sect ...
makes a point by taking control of some of
Batou's implants and forcing him to punch himself.
*
Neal Stephenson's book ''
The Diamond Age
''The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, set in a future world in wh ...
'' (1995) briefly refers to corporations hacking neural implants in order to superimpose advertisements onto a user's field of vision.
* The world in video game ''
Remember Me'' is set in the world where memory manipulation is commonplace.
See also
*
Brain implant
*
Brain-reading
Brain-reading or thought identification uses the responses of multiple voxels in the brain evoked by stimulus then detected by fMRI in order to decode the original stimulus. Advances in research have made this possible by using human neuroima ...
*
Cyberware
Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field (a proto-science, or more adequately a "proto-technology"). In science fiction circles, however, it is commonly known to mean the hardware or machine parts implanted in the human body and acting as ...
*
Hacker (computer security)
A security hacker is someone who explores methods for breaching defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, information gathering, challen ...
*
Neuroprosthetics
Neuroprosthetics (also called neural prosthetics) is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses. They are sometimes contrasted with a brain–computer interface, which connects the ...
References
{{Reflist
Neuroscience
Security