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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

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

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

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

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

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

IMMENSE SCALE OF INTERNET FRAUD is a specter of future biofraud. "A "treasure trove" of stolen personal details has been found on sale on black market websites, a security firm says. About 360 million account credentials including email addresses and passwords were reportedly uncovered. Hold Security said it had also found 1.25 billion email addresses without passwords."" " http://lnkd.in/d-njc3s View in LinkedIn

LARGE SCALE CYBER ATTACKS will inevitably be mimicked by criminal life hackers. "Reports suggest that the attackers who planted malware on Target tills were scooping up card data for 19 days during the busy Christmas season. The thieves are believed to have got away with complete details for 40 million cards and stolen personal data on about 70 million customers. The attack is believed to have been one of the biggest retail cyber-attacks in history."" " http://lnkd.in/dU7Yz9y View in LinkedIn

TAKING OVER YOUR LIFE: DO YOU MIND? "A world-spanning network of hijacked home routers has been uncovered by security researchers. The network involves more than 300,000 routers in homes and small businesses that have been taken over through loopholes in their core software. This would mean that the attackers could re-direct people to anywhere they wanted, inject their own adverts into web pages people visit or poison the search results they get."" " http://lnkd.in/d2MAN59 View in LinkedIn

CYBERCRIME IS LEADING INDICATOR FOR FUTURE BIOCRIME. "Chinese cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile users via a vast underground network of tools and services, according to a new report. The barriers to launching cybercriminal operations are less in number than ever. Toolkits are becoming more available and cheaper; some are even offered free of charge." Democratization and plummeting costs: sound familiar?" " http://lnkd.in/dcRTGeS View in LinkedIn