Cyberbiosecurity Challenges of Pathogen Genome Databases

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dc.contributor.authorVinatzer, Boris A.en
dc.contributor.authorHeath, Lenwood S.en
dc.contributor.authorAlmohri, Hussain M.J.en
dc.contributor.authorStulberg, Michael J.en
dc.contributor.authorLowe, Christopheren
dc.contributor.authorLi, Songen
dc.contributor.departmentComputer Scienceen
dc.contributor.departmentSchool of Plant and Environmental Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-04T00:58:42Zen
dc.date.available2019-09-04T00:58:42Zen
dc.date.issued2019-05-15en
dc.date.updated2019-09-04T00:58:39Zen
dc.description.abstractPathogen detection, identification, and tracking is shifting from non-molecular methods, DNA fingerprinting methods, and single gene methods to methods relying on whole genomes. Viral Ebola and influenza genome data are being used for real-time tracking, while food-borne bacterial pathogen outbreaks and hospital outbreaks are investigated using whole genomes in the UK, Canada, the USA and the other countries. Also, plant pathogen genomes are starting to be used to investigate plant disease epidemics such as the wheat blast outbreak in Bangladesh. While these genome-based approaches provide never-seen advantages over all previous approaches with regard to public health and biosecurity, they also come with new vulnerabilities and risks with regard to cybersecurity. The more we rely on genome databases, the more likely these databases will become targets for cyber-attacks to interfere with public health and biosecurity systems by compromising their integrity, taking them hostage, or manipulating the data they contain. Also, while there is the potential to collect pathogen genomic data from infected individuals or agricultural and food products during disease outbreaks to improve disease modeling and forecast, how to protect the privacy of individuals, growers, and retailers is another major cyberbiosecurity challenge. As data become linkable to other data sources, individuals and groups become identifiable and potential malicious activities targeting those identified become feasible. Here, we define a number of potential cybersecurity weaknesses in today's pathogen genome databases to raise awareness, and we provide potential solutions to strengthen cyberbiosecurity during the development of the next generation of pathogen genome databases.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.extent11 page(s)en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifierARTN 106 (Article number)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00106en
dc.identifier.eissn2296-4185en
dc.identifier.issn2296-4185en
dc.identifier.orcidVinatzer, Boris [0000-0003-4612-225X]en
dc.identifier.pmid31157218en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/93344en
dc.identifier.volume7en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherFrontiersen
dc.relation.urihttp://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000468053500001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=930d57c9ac61a043676db62af60056c1en
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectLife Sciences & Biomedicineen
dc.subjectBiotechnology & Applied Microbiologyen
dc.subjectcyberbiosecurityen
dc.subjectcybersecurityen
dc.subjectgenome databasesen
dc.subjectpathogenen
dc.subjectplant and animal healthen
dc.titleCyberbiosecurity Challenges of Pathogen Genome Databasesen
dc.title.serialFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherJournalen
dcterms.dateAccepted2019-04-25en
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/CALS T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/School of Plant and Environmental Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutes/Fralin Life Sciences/Chloe Lahondereen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutes/Fralin Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/University Research Institutesen

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