Researchers from the University of Washington have managed to find new ways to attack computers. In a recently published paper, they for the first time managed to utilize a special DNA strand to hack a PC.
Quoted from The Guardian, Monday (14/08/2017), the researchers used artificial molecules that are coded like DNA to carry a computer virus. According to lead researcher Tadayoshi Kohno, his team designed a custom-made DNA chain containing malware.
The researchers used DNA base pairs in this study. They engineered the adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine pair that were made as genuine DNA and then infused malware into it.
When the DNA chain contains malware is processed with special software, it can access the security features of the computer, meaning we can control the computer remotely using synthetic DNA in opposition,
But please note, this artificial DNA is only read by computers that have software to sort it. Through that software too, the computer will change the code of molecule made into computer code.
Therefore, this attack can actually occur because it utilizes the weak security of the DNA regulator software. Although proven to be successful, the researchers dismissed the security of today's problematic DNA-breaking software.
The results of this study only intends to describe the DNA can be used as a means of sending malware.
"We insist there is no reason to worry about the security of DNA-breaking software, but we encourage the DNA-breaking community to be more proactive in dealing with possible computer security risks," they said.
Actually this is not the first time DNA is used for means of sending data. In 2016, the University of Washington and Microsoft successfully demonstrated the technique of storing pictures and taking digital images using DNA.
In the study, researchers intend to convert DNA into a viable storage medium for digital information.
Previously, scientists from Harvard also managed to save GIF-formatted images in DNA from living cells to create a molecular data recorder that could stop in living cells.
华盛顿大学的研究人员设法找到新的攻击计算机的方式。在最近发表的一篇文章中，他们首次设法利用DNA链攻击PC。
“卫报”周一（14/08/2017）引用，科学家用DNA携带电脑病毒。据首席研究员Tadayoshi Kohno介绍，他的团队设计了一个包含恶意软件的定制DNA链。
研究人员在本研究中使用了DNA碱基对。他们设计了作为真DNA的腺嘌呤，胞嘧啶，鸟嘌呤和胸腺嘧啶对，然后将恶意软件注入其中。
当DNA链包含恶意软件使用特殊软件进行处理时，可以访问计算机的安全功能，这意味着我们可以使用合成DNA对抗远程控制计算机，
但请注意，这种人造DNA只能由具有软件排序的计算机读取。通过该软件，计算机也会将分子的代码改为计算机代码。
因此，它攻击DNA调节软件的安全性弱。尽管证明是成功的，但研究人员驳斥了当今有毒DNA破解软件的安全性。
这项研究的结果只是描述DNA可以作为发送恶意软件的手段。
他说：“我们坚持认为没有理由担心DNA破解软件的安全性。
实际上这不是DNA用于发送数据的第一次。 2016年，华盛顿大学和微软成功展示了使用DNA存储图片和拍摄数字图像的技术。
在研究中，研究人员打算将DNA转化为可行的数字信息存储介质。
此前，哈佛大学的科学家还设法将GIF格式的图像从活细胞中保存到DNA中，以创建一个可以在活细胞中停止的分子数据记录仪。