Hackers hijack robots and insert malware onto DNA used to take over a computer just the latest ways of effecting a data breach

August 24, 2017 |

Hackers have always been resourceful and skillful.  Even  hackers motivated for commercial gain by criminal means can demonstrate impressive skills and panache. Now they are moving ahead of screen writers and sci fi novellists in their ingenuity.  The Atlantic reports that a well known team of computer scientists have encoded malware on DNA to take advantage of vulnerabilities in software that is used in analysing DNA.  And that is what hacking is all about.  Finding vulnerabilities.

Over at Wired there is a report of hackers hijacking robots.  By taking over the robots the hackers can take control of the mobile cameras found without robots and their microphones.  That presents an instant form of spying.  As the report notes, Robots and robotic software is especially vulnerable to security breaches.  The hackers in the article identified 50 hackable security vulnerabilities in well known manufacturers of robotics.

Hacking is a chronic problem of ever growing magnitude.  A short piece on ABC PM program titled Amid increasing cyber threat, research calls for shake up of university training highlights the knowledge of the problem but less about how to deal with it.

As a for instance on the problem with hacking in a report by Protentus on 16 August 2017, July was the first month where identified hacking attacks outweighed insider attacks on patient records. As late as last Friday, 18 August, there was a reported hack of the San Antonio Institute for Women’s Health involving the keylogger virus.  Hospitals and health clinics are particularly valuable targets because the whole gamut of personal information is usually stored on site; name, address, date of birth, phone numbers and insurance identifiers, credit card details and billing codes. For hackers the health sector has the added advantage of being particularly sloppy at maintaining proper security standards.

One Response to “Hackers hijack robots and insert malware onto DNA used to take over a computer just the latest ways of effecting a data breach”

  1. Hackers hijack robots and insert malware onto DNA used to take over a computer just the latest ways of effecting a data breach | Australian Law Blogs

    […] Hackers hijack robots and insert malware onto DNA used to take over a computer just the latest ways … […]

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