When Cybersecurity Becomes Cyberbiosecurity: Understanding Cyberbiosecurity, Its Principles, Components, Importance, and Challenges

Computer science and biology or life science are two pivotal scientific disciplines that differ significantly in their goals, methodologies, areas of expertise, applications, and security and safety frameworks, yet their intersection is evident across nearly all biological domains. However, the distinct nature of security risks in computer science and biology or life science requires unique expertise from the specific discipline. As biology or life science becomes increasingly digitized and automated, and as the boundaries between the biological and digital disciplines continue to blur, their respective risks also begin to overlap. This convergence introduces novel hybrid risks (also known as cyber-biological or cyberbio risks), and vulnerabilities that cannot be effectively addressed by any single discipline alone. Simultaneously, this convergence has given rise to the field of cyberbiosecurity, which is designed to address hybrid or cyberbio risks at the intersection of biological and digital systems. Cyberbiosecurity is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles of cybersecurity, biosecurity, biosafety and cyber-physical security to protect any biological activity, asset, facility or data that relies on the digital technology from hybrid or cyberbio risks. The main aim of this paper is to clarify and simplify the term cyberbiosecurity or biocybersecurity, and provides an in-depth study on it by covering its definition, principles, components, importance and challenges. This in-depth study on cyberbiosecurity or biocybersecurity will enable readers to understand this term in great detail and help distinguish it with other associated security fields and apply it appropriately wherever required.