Mason Phillips

CYSE200T

Professor Duvall

10/19/25

Possible Ethical Concerns Regarding BioCybersecurity

BLUF: The rise in BioCybersecurity and the possibilities of its uses raise ethical concerns.

Overview

With the rise in DNA and genetic testing through the digitization of our DNA also came the possibility of Bio Cybercrime. With your DNA being the greatest personally identifying information (PII), digitizing this information leads to possible ethical concerns regarding use of this data.

Ethical Concerns & My Position

It is well known that any information that is online is at risk of being compromised or stolen and this is no different for DNA once it is digitized. While there aren’t currently any monetized or specific ways that DNA can be used after it is stolen the possibility of it being used is not far off in the future. Another ethical concern surrounds the data linked to your DNA, not the DNA itself. In October of 2023, a breach had come to light on the genetic testing company 23&Me. During this cyber-attack, which went unnoticed for months, around 6.9 million customers had their data breached. While this breach didn’t involve their DNA directly, it did involve the items related to the DNA, such as names, locations, images, ethnicity and most importantly medical history and health reports. There are also some instances where the DNA usage is useful, such as criminal cases and crime related incidents, but for the most part I believe that there are more downsides to the digitization of DNA.

Conclusion

In conclusion: I believe that while the digitization of DNA can be useful in some cases, there are more negatives than positives such as the Data breach with 23&Me and the future possibilities of digitized DNA being used or sold for criminal reasons.