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Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

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Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#31

Post by viraptor »

yoz-y wrote: post #30
omarforgotpwd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats interesting is just the idea that you should sanitize ALL inputs, no matter how unlikely it is that the input could be malicious.

I remember that perl has (had?) a feature where all variables would be "tainted". Using a tainted variable would make the program exit in an error and the only way to clean them is to pass them through a regex.

Tainted is a terribly flawed concept unfortunately. At least the way it's implemented normally.

Strings are never universally tainted. They're tainted for a specific purpose. One language will treat backticks as a string quote, another as a subshell substitution. One will think $ is ok, another will interpolate the string. But in most cases I've seen, tainted flag is just used for "Ah, we quoted the ' in the string - you're safe now" :-(

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#34

Post by EvilTerran »

caf wrote: post #25

It makes me wonder if you could create a physical scene that, when photographed by a digital camera, exploited the camera.

I'm reminded of David Langford's "basilisks":

http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm

[edit] more in the series:

http://ansible.uk/writing/c-b-faq.html

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-of...

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#35

Post by number6 »

caf wrote: post #25

It makes me wonder if you could create a physical scene that, when photographed by a digital camera, exploited the camera.

Or a kind of message or language that when seen by a human or processed by a brain can crash or exploit it ...

It's also the plot of a good book:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#36

Post by andyjohnson0 »

1. Gene sequence injects malware to take control of DNA sequencer. 2. Compromised sequencer searches local network for DNA synthesisers. 3. Malware modifies synthesiser software to insert novel retrovirus into output DNA. 3. Wait for DNA to be executed inside a cell.

Stuxnet for DNA.

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#37

Post by andyjohnson0 »

patrickg_zill wrote: post #4

This reminds me of the William Gibson short story, "New Rose Hotel", for some reason.

"The diskette in my hand. Rain on the river. I knew, but I couldn't face it. I put the code for that meningial virus back into your purse and lay down beside you.

So Moenner died, along with other Hosaka researchers. Including Hiroshi. Chedanne suffered permanent brain damage.

Hiroshi hadn't worried about contamination. The proteins he punched for were harmless. So the synthesizer hummed to itself all night long building a virus to the specifications of Maas Biolabs GmbH. Maas. Small, fast, ruthless -- All Edge."

Written in 1981.

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#38

Post by gibberfish »

caf wrote: post #25

It makes me wonder if you could create a physical scene that, when photographed by a digital camera, exploited the camera.

There's ongoing work in adversarial examples for neural networks. This could conceivably be used to exploit self-driving cars, making it see things that aren't there.

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#39

Post by captainmuon »

number6 wrote: post #35
caf wrote: post #25

It makes me wonder if you could create a physical scene that, when photographed by a digital camera, exploited the camera.

Or a kind of message or language that when seen by a human or processed by a brain can crash or exploit it ... It's also the plot of a good book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

You can use adversarial neural networks to make a special picture that looks like noise or junk, but a certain neural network will recognize e.g. a dog in it. You basically train the ANN to make something that the other NN classifies as dog, but humans don't.

I often wonder if you could do that with humans. I don't think you can crash a human brain a la Snow Crash or Basilisk, but I think it is plausible to craft an abstract picture that creates fear, arousal, or some other "primitive" response.

Re: Malware Encoded in DNA Can Hack Gene-Sequencing Software

#40

Post by rgejman »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #36

1. Gene sequence injects malware to take control of DNA sequencer. 2. Compromised sequencer searches local network for DNA synthesisers. 3. Malware modifies synthesiser software to insert novel retrovirus into output DNA. 3. Wait for DNA to be executed inside a cell. Stuxnet for DNA.

this is the plot of a sci-fi novel waiting to happen.
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