2020/10/01 by Lucas Potter, Potter, Lucas, Orlando Ayala +3 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Computer Science · #Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research #CRISPR and Genetic Engineering #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Law, AI, and Intellectual Property
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2010.00624
openalex publication_date 2020/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Biodefense is the discipline of ensuring biosecurity with respect to select groups of organisms and limiting their spread. This field has increasingly been challenged by novel threats from nature that have been weaponized such as SARS, Anthrax, and similar pathogens, but has emerged victorious through collaboration of national and world health groups. However, it may come under additional stress in the 21st century as the field intersects with the cyberworld -- a world where governments have already been struggling to keep up with cyber attacks from small to state-level actors as cyberthreats have been relied on to level the playing field in international disputes. Disruptions to military logistics and economies through cyberattacks have been able to be done at a mere fraction of economic and moral costs through conventional military means, making it an increasingly tempting means of disruption. In the field of biocybersecurity (BCS), the strengths within biotechnology and cybersecurity merge, along with many of their vulnerabilities, and this could spell increased trouble for biodefense, as novel threats can be synthesized and disseminated in ways that fuse the routes of attacks seen in biosecurity and cybersecurity. Herein, we offer an exploration of how threats in the domain of biocybersecurity may emerge through less foreseen routes as it might be an attractive auxiliary to conventional war. This is done through an analysis of potential payload and delivery methods to develop notional threat vectorizations. We conclude with several paradigms through which to view BCS-based threats.