Security Assessment of Cyberphysical Digital Microfluidic Biochips

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering

Background:

• Digital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs) offer miniaturized, automated analysis for diagnostics and monitoring.
• DMFBs reduce sample consumption and streamline assay processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct the first security vulnerability assessment of DMFBs.
• To identify and demonstrate result-manipulation and denial-of-service attacks on DMFBs.

Main Methods:

• Demonstrated result-manipulation attacks by altering sample concentration and calibration curves.
• Identified denial-of-service attacks targeting droplet-routing algorithms and actuation sequences.
• Utilized a digital microfluidic synthesis simulator to validate attack feasibility.

Main Results:

• Two practical result-manipulation attacks were successfully demonstrated on a glucose assay.
• Denial-of-service attacks were shown to disrupt DMFB operations.
• The identified attacks are easy to implement and difficult to detect.

Conclusions:

• DMFBs are vulnerable to sophisticated security threats.
• There is a critical need for developing robust security measures to protect DMFB systems.
• Further research is required to implement effective defenses against malicious modifications in DMFBs.