Security, Ethical and Legal Issues
Security
Bio-Cyber terrorism is a term coined by Ian Akyildiz, the main founder of this technology. For Akyildiz to talk about terrorism is rather ironic considering what an absolute violation of our body and privacy his nanotech is. The health risks involving toxicity of nanoparticles is another topic of consideration. Bodily sovereignty is paramount. No one should have access to our body (yet they do with the nanomachines making up the Internet of Bio-Nano-Tech). Please refer to this human rights article for more on human rights violations.
Prof. Dr. Ilhan Fuat Akyildiz video clip from Science and Society Meetings (link below)
Excerpt from video:
Interviewer:
“Is it possible to remotely reprogram those bacteria that you put inside the human body?”
Akyildiz:
“Yes.”
Interviewer:
“So if so, the security risk is much more challenging than we thought.”
Akyildiz:
“Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So, actually that’s true.”
Interviewer:
“In the beginning you mentioned the network is two-way. So, if the network communication is two-way and we then reprogram the bacteria inside the body, we have a huge risk of security.”
Akyildiz:
“Of course, that’s really very very important that somebody will send all the wrong information and it can create this zombie, right. All the devices inside can malfunction, right. So it’s very very important who’s transmitting or who’s reprogramming.”
Interviewer:
“Somebody, in fact, can cut the communication with the internet and, like a man in the middle attack, cut the communication and reprogram it- and this is a huge attack.
Akyildiz:
“Yes, exactly. Yeah, of course. Yeah. That’s very likely. That’s why it’s extremely important what I kept saying about security in cyber space, so that’s an open issue. Hopefully, you know, people will behave nicely, but that’s not the case, unfortunately. You’re right. So now somebody can come and then really reprogram you and kill you, even.”
Science and Society Meetings - XI, Prof. Dr. Ilhan Fuat Akyildiz, Georgia University
“Digital information can be used to manipulate biological systems.”
We find the same standards organization, IEC, at the center of things again:
IEC sets Cyber security standards
Types of potential attacks on the software inside your body (i.e. attacks on your body) include unauthorized users, disruption of communication, sending false information to the software, deliberately causing malfunctions, or even gaining complete control over the entire network. Other variations of potential cyber attacks include worm holes, sink holes, black holes, Sybil attacks, loops, desynchronization attacks, flooding attacks, replay attacks, node captures, jamming attacks, eavesdropping, selective forwarding, spoofing, altering and more.
Security Issues in Healthcare Applications Using Wireless Medical Sensor Networks: A Survey
Applying Digital Twins in Metaverse: User Interface, Security and Privacy Challenges
Security analysis of the IEEE 802.15.6 standard
Ethical and Legal
Mental Augmentation: A New Frontier for Human Rights (2025)
Ethical and societal challenges of the approaching technological storm
Digital Twins: Legal Considerations for an Emerging Technology
“A scoping review, designed to cover scientific, ethical, and legal literature associated with nanomedical technology, was conducted, generating and analyzing 27 peer-reviewed articles published between 2007–2020.
Results indicate that articles referencing ethical and legal issues related to nanomedical technology were concerned with six key areas: 1) harm exposure and potential risks to health, 2) consent to nano-research, 3) privacy, 4) access to nanomedical technology and potential nanomedical therapies, 5) classification of nanomedical products in relation to the research and development of nanomedical technology, and 6) the precautionary principle as it relates to the research and development of nanomedical technology.
Conclusion: This review of the literature suggests that few practical solutions are comprehensive enough to allay the ethical and legal concerns surrounding research and development in fields related to nanomedical technology, especially as it continues to evolve and contribute to future innovations in medicine. It is also clearly apparent that a more coordinated approach is required to ensure global standards of practice governing the study and development of nanomedical technology, especially as discussions surrounding the regulation of nanomedical research throughout the literature are mainly confined to systems of governance in the United States."
Ethical and legal challenges in nanomedical innovations: a scoping review (2023)
“Informed consent is required for any research paper to be published in International Journal of Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine (IJNNN) if that research involves human participants. Informed Consent policy states that a participant in research must be informed about all aspects of the trial and the research should be carried out only when the participant voluntarily confirms his or her willingness to participate in a particular clinical trial and significance of the research for advancement of medical knowledge and social welfare. The concept of informed consent is embedded in the principles of Nuremberg Code, The Declaration of Helsinki and The Belmont Report. Informed consent is an inevitable requirement prior to every research involving human being as subjects for study.”
Policies of Informed Consent and Code of Ethics
"First-in-human (FIH) research has several characteristics that require special attention with respect to ethics and human subjects protections…It is essential, as a starting point, to recognize that the consent form and process are by no means the primary protectors of human subjects (although they are sometimes so regarded). Instead, consideration of the form and content of informed consent becomes relevant only after a clinical trial has been reviewed and deemed scientifically and ethically acceptable…Both types of challenges potentially implicate two varieties of issues: those that are genuinely novel, and those that have enduring significance but have, to date, been inadequately addressed."
Nanomedicine first-in-human research: challenges for informed consent
Important ethical issues for nanomedicine
Ethics in Nanomedicine: Key Issues and Principles