INFOGRAPHIC
Within five years, scientists expect to be able
to electronically record the brain signals that
build memories and then enhance or even
rewrite them before putting them back into
the brain.
A decade from now, the first commercial
memory boosting implants could appear on
the market – and within 20 years or so, the
technology could be advanced enough to
allow for extensive control over memories.
New threats resulting from this could include
the mass manipulation of groups through
implanted or erased memories of political
events or conflicts, while ‘repurposed’
cyberthreats could target new opportunities
for cyberespionage or the theft, deletion or
www.intelligentcio.com
‘locking’ of memories (for example, in return
for a ransom). both the ones we see today and the ones
that will emerge in the coming years.”
Commenting on the results of the
investigation, Dmitry Galov, Junior
Security Researcher, Global Research
and Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab, said:
“Current vulnerabilities matter because
the technology that exists today is the
foundation for what will exist in the future. Laurie Pycroft, Doctoral Researcher in the
University of Oxford Functional Neurosurgery
Group, added: “Memory implants are a real
and exciting prospect, offering significant
healthcare benefits. The prospect of being
able to alter and enhance our memories with
electrodes may sound like fiction, but it is
based on solid science – the foundations of
which already exist today.
“Although no attacks targeting
neurostimulators have been observed in the
wild, points of weakness exist that will not be
hard to exploit. We need to bring together
healthcare professionals, the cybersecurity
industry and manufacturers to investigate
and mitigate all potential vulnerabilities,
“Memory prostheses are only a question
of time. Collaborating to understand and
address emerging risks and vulnerabilities
and doing so while this technology is still
relatively new, will pay off in the future.” n
INTELLIGENTCIO
33