Scientists Hacked a Computer Using Malware Hidden in Synthetic DNA

In 2017, scientists encoded malware into synthetic DNA and used a DNA sequencer to take control of the computer reading it.

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In 2017, researchers demonstrated a strange new cybersecurity risk: malicious computer code could be carried inside a physical strand of synthetic DNA. When the DNA was read by a sequencing system, the resulting data was processed by software on the connected computer, allowing the researchers to trigger a compromise. The experiment depended on a deliberately vulnerable test setup, so it was a proof of concept rather than an everyday attack. The bigger security lesson was that biological data can eventually become computer input, and software that handles that data needs the same careful security thinking applied to other forms of untrusted input. The researchers also examined DNA processing software and found security weaknesses that could matter as genetic testing and sequencing systems become more widespread.

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