Cyber Risk Case Analysis in Wearables and Medical Devices: Developing a Cyberbio Security Risk Framework

Potential new cyber-attack vectors at the intersection of the cyber-physical and biological interfaces continue to proliferate. For years there has been a growing convergence between data, the digital world, and devices expanding from wearables that collect biometric information to medical devices critical for survival. Malicious actors opportunistically take advantage of unknown weaknesses in the rapid development of these new biodigital systems. Given the disruptive nature of this technology, there is a growing need to understand the associated cyber risk in order to develop a risk-based cyber security approach to help safeguard the emerging cyberbio economy. With this in mind, this investigation posed the following research questions: What are the risks associated with these devices? Can a risk-based approach be validated or extended by exploring breach scenarios and highlighting risks? Multiple qualitative methods were used to analyze case data, business data, and to identify trends. Based on the results, a cyber bio-physical risk-based approach was developed and tested. The results demonstrate that beyond technological and data architecture there is a strong need to further identify and analyze risk associated with cyber-bio convergence.