Month: September 2022

LARGEST INTERNET ATTACK YET. "A massive attack that exploited a key vulnerability in the infrastructure of the internet is the "start of ugly things to come", it has been warned. Online security specialists Cloudflare said it recorded the "biggest" attack of its kind on Monday. Several experts had predicted that the NTP would be used for malicious purposes." " " http://lnkd.in/dtbuHup View in LinkedIn

FUTURE BIOCRIME will likely mimic cybercrime in both methods, and in the phenomenal scale it is reaching today. Not unlike nuclear energy, used for life-saving cancer medicine and weapons of mass destruction, modern biology has the dual ability to do enormous and truly transformative good for humanity, and is capable of serious abuse. The genie is out of the bottle. And no amount of legislation and regulation will stop motivated criminal activity. View in LinkedIn

THE BLOG STRING AHEAD will consider bioterrorism and biowarfare, a step up from the past series of biocrime, and following from the democratizing forces in life science research and the biopunk movement. Linear but darker, I am afraid, but a growing reality. The findings may surprise you, as they did me. Sometimes identifying the good players can be more difficult than anticipated. View in LinkedIn

REGENESIS OF EXTINCT DISEASES. "In 2002, scientists at Stony Brook University recreated the polio virus from scratch based on its published genetic sequence. This demonstration prompted fears that terrorist organizations might exploit the same technique to synthesize more deadly viral agents, such the smallpox virus, as biological weapons."" " http://lnkd.in/dF_rGWt View in LinkedIn

EXTINCT DISEASES INVESTIGATED. "Legitimate scientists have recreated other pathogenic viruses in the laboratory, including a SARS-like virus and the formerly extinct strain of influenza virus responsible for the 1918-19 “Spanish Flu” pandemic, which is estimated to have infected a third of the world population and killed three to five percent." A 30,000 year old dormant giant virus, Pithovirus sibericum, was resurrected from Siberian permafrost that was, surprisingly, still infective."" " http://lnkd.in/dF_rGWt http:/http://lnkd.in/dzX9u4Z View in LinkedIn

SYNBIOLOGY AHEAD OF CURVE."Combined with breakthroughs in another area of biology, "gain-of-function" research, the synthetic genomics field has spawned a dizzying array of new possibilities, challenges, and national security threats ... the global bioterrorism and biosecurity establishment remains well behind the curve, mired in antiquated notions about what threats are important and how best to counter them."" " http://lnkd.in/dyGvsfW View in LinkedIn

BIOTERRORISM. "Individuals could be singled out by infecting them with agents that produce chronic fatigue, reducing their ability to function. Organisations could be precision-targeted through contamination of delivered mail, environmental systems or cafeterias. Wider areas could be affected by releasing agents into municipal water supplies, into the air using crop-dusting equipment or via foodstuffs delivered to the region."" " http://lnkd.in/dkjx-Yi View in LinkedIn

BIOWARFARE AND BIOTERRORISM are very heavy duty subjects, and I apologize ahead of time for the truly disturbing nature of these topics. But if we are to finger-wag the biopunkers and the ethics of synthetic biology, we should at least view this in context, and the reality is that unethical work (uniformed consent, to put it mildly), and careless work (vast contamination, leaks, blunders) has been secretly conducted by many nations in the name of security. Sit tight and endure. View in LinkedIn

BIOWARFARE IS NOT NEW. Bubonic plague was used in 1346 by the Tartars while besieging the city of Kaffa. The plague erupted among the Tartars and they catapulted plague corpses over the city walls. The inhabitants fled. The British used smallpox to infect the American Indians in the mid 18th century. In WWII, Germany spread equine glanders in the US, UK, Russia, France, and Rumania, to wipe out the horses, and caused supply chain delays. The Geneva Convention of 1925 outlawed biological weapons in warfare although Japan and the US did not agree until 1970 and 1975 respectively. " " http:/http://lnkd.in/d6eK54y cards-and-risks-bioterrorism/ View in LinkedIn

RECENT BIOTERRORISM I. In 1984, the Rajneeshees poisoned more than 750 by contaminating Oregon restaurants with Salmonella. Between 1990 and 1995 the Aum Shinrikyo cult ... used anthrax and botulism. In April 1990, they used aerosol sprayers to release liquid botulinum toxin on the Diet, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and two U.S. naval bases and the airport in Narita. Between June and August of 1993, the Aum Shinrikyo sprayed gallons of liquid anthrax in downtown Tokyo. http://www.ipcs.org/article/terrorism/bio-terror-grave-implications-of-synthetic-biology-3242.html View in LinkedIn