Neurosecurity
Encyclopedia
Neurosecurity has been defined as "a version of computer science security
principles and methods applied to neural engineering
," or more fully, as "the protection of the confidentiality
, integrity
, and availability
of neural devices from malicious parties with the goal of preserving the safety of a person’s neural mechanisms, neural computation, and free will." Neurosecurity is a distinct concept from neuroethics
; 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
to national security
, a topic that is addressed in Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense, by Jonathan D. Moreno
.
The Center for Neurotechnology Studies of 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."
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
principles and methods applied to neural engineering
Neural engineering
Neural engineering is a discipline within biomedical engineering that uses engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, enhance, or otherwise exploit the properties of neural systems...
," or more fully, as "the protection of the confidentiality
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an ethical principle associated with several professions . In ethics, and in law and alternative forms of legal resolution such as mediation, some types of communication between a person and one of these professionals are "privileged" and may not be discussed or divulged to...
, integrity
Data integrity
Data Integrity in its broadest meaning refers to the trustworthiness of system resources over their entire life cycle. In more analytic terms, it is "the representational faithfulness of information to the true state of the object that the information represents, where representational faithfulness...
, and availability
Availability
In telecommunications and reliability theory, 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 an unknown, i.e., a random, time...
of neural devices from malicious parties with the goal of preserving the safety of a person’s neural mechanisms, neural computation, and free will." Neurosecurity is a distinct concept from neuroethics
Neuroethics
Neuroethics is the ethics of neuroscience, and the neuroscience of ethics.The ethics of neuroscience deals with matters as a subclass of bioethics...
; 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
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
to national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, a topic that is addressed in Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense, by Jonathan D. Moreno
Jonathan D. Moreno
Jonathan D. Moreno is a philosopher and historian who specializes in the intersection of bioethics, culture, science, and national security, and has published seminal works on the history, sociology and politics of biology and medicine....
.
The Center for Neurotechnology Studies of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is an independent, 501, not-for-profit public policy research institute located in Arlington, Virginia. The Institute was founded in 1994, shortly after the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment was disbanded, with the intent to assume some of the...
, 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."
Popular culture
- The animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone ComplexGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complexis an anime television series produced by Production I.G and based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno...
(2002–2003) prominently features hackers manipulating neural implants. One example is the Laughing ManLaughing Man (Ghost in the Shell)The is a fictional character in the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. His voice actor is Kōichi Yamadera, while he is voiced in Bandai Entertainment's English dub by Steven Blum.-Background:...
's use of hacking to interfere with the reports of eye witnesses. In another example, Major KusanagiMotoko Kusanagiis a fictional Japanese character in the Ghost in the Shell anime and manga series. She is a cyborg employed as the squad leader of Public Security Section 9, a fictional division of the real Japanese National Public Safety Commission. She is voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in the movies and the Ghost in...
makes a point by taking control of some of BatouBatouis a main male character in the Ghost in the Shell series, the second best melee fighter in Section 9, and is the second in command under Major Motoko Kusanagi....
's implants and forcing him to punch himself.
- Neal StephensonNeal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
's book The Diamond AgeThe Diamond AgeThe Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a science fiction bildungsroman, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of...
(1995) briefly refers to corporations hacking neural implants in order to superimpose advertisements onto a user's field of vision.
See also
- Brain implantBrain implantBrain implants, often referred to as neural implants, are technological devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain - usually placed on the surface of the brain, or attached to the brain's cortex...
- Brain-readingBrain-readingBrain-reading uses the responses of multiple voxels in the brain evoked by stimulus and then detected by fMRI in order to decode the original stimulus...
- CyberwareCyberwareFor other uses; see Cyberware Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field...
- Hacker (computer security)Hacker (computer security)In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
- NeuroprostheticsNeuroprostheticsNeuroprosthetics is a discipline related to neuroscience and biomedical engineering concerned with developing neural prostheses....