Toward a Secure Platform for Brain-Connected Devices—Issues and Current Solutions

With the advancement of the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology from lab-based biomedical devices to general purpose, Internet-connected systems will represent a paradigm shift in human interaction with technology. As with any novel technology, many ethical, social, and legal implications will affect both the development and adoption of new and novel devices. The purpose of this article is to outline some of the emerging challenges and potential that BCI-based devices will offer and create a framework for what requirements must be placed on trustworthy general-use brain-connected devices. Current advancements and research in the field of secure computing are then compared against the prior device requirements to predict the likelihood of meeting these goals and design a general system that begins to meet security requirements. The resulting system framework is examined in the context of security, development, and economic potential in order to determine its viability as a general-purpose base system for networking human brains.