Israeli scientists discover new malware that tricks researchers into creating toxins and viruses

22:55 GMT 30.11.2020Get a short url

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According to recently published research, malware that can hack a bioengineer’s computer and replace a substring in DNA structure could lead to the unintentional creation of dangerous toxins.

A group of cyber researchers from Ben-Gurion University of Israel (BGU) in the Negev have discovered an “end-to-end” cyber-biological attack that can cause scientists to unintentionally create toxins or viruses in their laboratories, according to an article published in Nature Biotechnology.

Research suggests that despite the belief that a criminal must be in physical contact with a dangerous substance to produce and deliver it, the malware could sneak into a bioengineer’s computer and substitute a short sub- chain in the structure of DNA. that a sequence could be unintentionally created, triggering the production of a toxin.

“To regulate the intentional and unintentional generation of hazardous substances, most synthetic gene suppliers screen DNA drives, which is currently the most effective line of defense against such attacks,” said Rami Puzis, head of the BGU Complex Networks Analysis Lab. “However, outside of the state, bioterrorists can buy dangerous DNA from companies that don’t screen orders. Unfortunately, the screening guidelines have not been adapted to reflect recent developments in synthetic biology. and cyber warfare. “

According to the researchers, the discovery was made during an experiment with a suggested “weakness” in the US Department of Health and Human Services advice for DNA providers. An alleged violation could allow screening protocols to be bypassed by using a generic obfuscation procedure, possibly making it more difficult for the screening software to detect DNA that could produce the toxin.

“Using this technique, our experiments revealed that 16 of 50 obscured DNA samples were not detected when screened according to HHS ‘best-match’ guidelines,” Puzis said.

BGU scientists said automation of synthetic genetic engineering workflow, along with potential cybersecurity breaches, could pave the way for malware to interfere with a lab computer to modify DNA strands .

“This attack scenario highlights the need to strengthen the synthetic DNA supply chain with protections against cyber-biological threats,” Puzis said. “To address these threats, we propose an improved screening algorithm that takes into account gene editing in vivo. We hope this article will pave the way for robust and adversary resistant DNA sequence screening and synthetic gene production services enhanced by cybersecurity when biosafety screening is enforced by local regulations around the world. “.