Beware the BioTrojans

As the global market for labs-on-chips grows toward $30 billion by 2030, researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi and the NYU Center for Cybersecurity (CCS) warn about security vulnerabilities. "We call it biochips, but they use the principle of microfluidics," explains lead researcher Navajit Singh Baban — a CCS postdoctoral associate — who identified "BioTrojans" that can be created by manipulating the polymer materials during manufacturing. The team proposes authentication solutions including fluorescent watermarks and machine learning verification to protect these devices that are critical for healthcare and Department of Defense applications.