{"id":293,"date":"2025-06-29T01:24:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T01:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/codygregg\/?p=293"},"modified":"2025-06-29T01:24:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T01:24:01","slug":"hacking-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/codygregg\/2025\/06\/29\/hacking-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacking Humans"},"content":{"rendered":"The article Hacking Humans: Protecting Our DNA From Cybercriminals talks about the risk of Digitizing DNA and how it\u2019s too much of a risk factor that would require a lot of security to constantly monitor. Even Though digitizing our DNA could bring advancements to the field there are ethical concerns of privacy. We have seen massive breaches overtime that have involved people’s information being stolen even with high security measures in place, so there\u2019s rightful concern that we shouldn\u2019t be digitizing DNA because that\u2019s our entire existence at risk.

Ethical Concerns
With the idea of digitizing DNA becoming more common it brings a lot of concerns on the privacy and safety of information that will be digitized. DNA is our entire existence and the thought and possibility of it being stolen is very concerning, because it could be used for anything and it would be hard to prove the person’s actual identity. Also trying to prove someone\u2019s identity would be almost impossible because you can\u2019t change your DNA, so if someone\u2019s DNA is taken it will be impossible to get that back until something is made possible to do that. Another concern that is brought up is the access of information that the person will be able to get into and use, if that person has connection to certain security entities that could be a possibility of being targeted with that person’s identity, let alone any private information about them that could put their family at risk. There are a lot of ethical concerns that are very valid to have when it comes to dealing with people\u2019s DNA, even though people\u2019s DNA is used for other measures like trying to search up ancestry, digitizing people\u2019s DNA is a whole different risk.

Cybersecurity Concerns
The digitization of DNA comes with a lot of Cybersecurity concerns that will require a lot of planning and resource management for the protection of people\u2019s DNA. DNA would become a very big target for people to want and sell, so the cyberbiosecurity field would have to be ready 24\/7 and set up plans for any risk that can happen. The resources and cost that would need to be allocated to supporting the protection and maintenance of systems would also have to be communicated and worked on with higher ups, and that could be very resource intensive because of the high risk. Another concern that could arise is what happens after someone\u2019s DNA gets stolen and how much of a risk is that person\u2019s identity, the possibility of someone\u2019s DNA being taken could spiral into a lot of different security problems that could take a while to figure out and combat.

Conclusion
The digitization of DNA is a very risky idea that could cause people\u2019s DNA to be stolen and used for bad or sold on the dark web. It puts regular people in danger of having their identity completely stolen and the high possibility of not being able to get their identity back until there’s a way found out, but it\u2019s also a risk for cybersecurity field in general because of the effects that it could cause if the wrong people\u2019s DNA starts getting used for secured information or just private information. While I do understand that there is a possibility that digitized DNA could be very good for research in medical problems, It\u2019s just too much of a risk that could end up unfixable and the resources that would need to be put in place to protect people would be very high for even the slightest risk.

References
Gallegos, J. E., Peccoud, J., FF4BB2BC-B3A4-4FBD-B8A4EE080E321552, \/author\/the-Conversation-Us\/, 4SGwgVplZn78AUrz0vAX2R, US, T. C., The-Conversation-Us, Curated by professional editors, T. C. offers informed commentary and debate on the issues affecting our world., & Partner. (2024, February 20). DNA has gone digital–what could possibly go wrong?. Scientific American. https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/dna-has-gone-digital-what-could-possibly-go-wrong\/
Pulivarti, R. (2025, March 18). How secure is your DNA?. NIST. https:\/\/www.nist.gov\/blogs\/taking-measure\/how-secure-your-dna
Rizkallah, J. (2024, August 12). Hacking humans: Protecting our DNA from Cybercriminals. Forbes. https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/councils\/forbestechcouncil\/2018\/11\/29\/hacking-humans-protecting-our-dna-from-cybercriminals\/
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The article Hacking Humans: Protecting Our DNA From Cybercriminals talks about the risk of Digitizing DNA and how it\u2019s too much of a risk factor that would require a lot of security to constantly monitor. Even Though digitizing our DNA could bring advancements to the field there are ethical concerns of privacy. We have seen… <\/p>\n

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