NTI | bio Attends a Cyberbiosecurity Workshop to Assess Opportunities and Challenges in India and Globally

Carnegie India, in collaboration with the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology Center for Policy Research-IISC Bangalore and Health Security Partners, conducted a virtual workshop September 6-7, 2022 to discuss emerging issues at the intersection of cybersecurity and biosecurity. NTI | bio’s Dr. Aparupa Sengupta joined participants from the fields of biosecurity, cybersecurity, big data management and security, and artificial intelligence (AI) to brainstorm solutions to address vulnerabilities and reduce risks.

Attendees discussed cyber vulnerabilities in India and around the world enabled by rapid advancement in the biotechnology sector, digitization of genetic sequence data, increasingly networked laboratory equipment and databases, and the convergence of life sciences with engineering, physical science, data science. The expert-led sessions raised awareness of cyber-biosecurity risks and leveraged the knowhow of attendees to explore best practices for developing and maintaining a cyber-safe and secure operation. The two-day workshop included discussions around the various types of cyber threats—from hacking to phishing scams—and their implications, which ranged from intellectual property theft and economic damage to serious threats to national and international security.

As NTI explores risk mitigation approaches at the intersection of cybersecurity, data security, AI, and biosecurity as part of its Biosecurity Innovation and Risk Reduction Initiative, the workshop helped contextualize national and global security threats and the priorities of various actors on the front lines of biosecurity.