Can We Hack the Human Body?

Research shows that violent experiences in the virtual world may lead to increased aggressive behavior in the real world too.

One of the most exciting technologies of our time, virtual reality refers to a wholly simulated reality, which is created by computer systems using digital formats. The use of VR in our daily lives has had a remarkable social and psychological impact, including on our perceptions of family, religion, private experiences, etc. There is no doubt that VR places many impulses within the reach of instant virtual gratification, with no immediate political, social, or legal consequences. Indeed, there is no "law" or "order" in the virtual world, and people can live their lives the way they want to. But the question is: What happens if the virtual world impacts the real world?

The increasing reliance on technology is changing our behavior and has made us more confident and uninhibited on the Internet, which makes us more vulnerable. The need for connectivity has spread to our entire surroundings, even reaching our own bodies. And if we are connected, we are hackable!

In my ongoing study (2021-today), I explore impact that technology has on our behavior and on online criminal behavior. I study human interactions with technology and digital media, anything from cell phones to cyborgs. But mostly, I focused on internet (digital) neurobiopsychology. If something qualifies as "technology" and has the potential to change human behaviour, I want to look at how—and consider why

My work is based on a series of ideas that have served me well by using online available data from: Europol, Justice and Home Affairs Agencies, Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA), and European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), as well as Google?Public Data?Explorer among other entities.

• The first concept is that people behave differently when interacting through technology than in the real world. One of the main effects is anonymity. It’s the modern-day equivalent of that superhero power of invisibility. It also fuels online disinhibition.?

Everything is amplified in the virtual world

• My second idea: "I have been involved in a dozen different research silos, and have studied everything from organized cybercrime to cyberchondria—health anxiety facilitated and amplified by doing online medical searches—and the one thing I have observed over and over again is that human behavior is often amplified and accelerated online." I have a name for this - "Cyber Effect." Altruism, for example, is amplified online—which means that people can be more generous and giving in cyberspace than they are face-to-face. We see this phenomenon in the extraordinary growth of non-profit crowdfunding online. Another known effect of cyberspace is that people can be more trusting of others they encounter online and can disclose information more quickly. It means that people tend to feel safe when they aren’t. Due to the online disinhibition effect, individuals can act as if they were drunk.
• My third key idea is about how individuals ignore all these changes that occur in them. Humans are adaptable and adjust their behavior when they change environments: new jobs, new cities, or new countries. Many people deny the awareness that they’ve entered a new environment when they go online, so they remain ignorant—and are fooled by their sense that nothing has changed. They are sitting in their own homes, surrounded by familiar objects, after all, and their bodies are resting in the cushions of familiar chairs and sofas. But their minds have "gone" somewhere. The conditions and quality of the online environment are different from those in real life. That is why our instincts, which were honed for the real world, fail us in cyberspace.

The consequences of disinhibition and lack of caution when we move around the web can be increasingly serious with the advance of digital tools. It is no longer just that our credit cards can be cloned or our identities impersonated, but that, as the scope of uses for facial recognition expands,?even our faces are no longer safe with us. Deepfake technology has had entertaining uses as well as some nefarious ones, such as pornographic clips in which another person’s face is inserted. But these cases show how the old cliché of fiction—impersonating someone’s fingerprint to get past a biometric checkpoint—no longer needs a severed finger. Today, researchers are also moving towards?recreating a face from a voice, which will add another challenge to the preservation of our privacy.

VIRTUAL EVIDENCE AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

Within cyber neurobiopsychology, I focused in digital forensics, which is dedicated to studying the evidence of virtual behavior that is left at the scene of the crime. As I like to think of it, the cyber footprint. I point out that the study of virtual traces remains very similar to real traces. Every contact leaves a trace. This is just as true in cyberspace!

This work deals with predicting the virtual behaviour of individuals, studying juvenile cybercrime—often manifested as hacking—to create profiles of criminal behaviour such as cyber bullying. New technologies are closely related to my work. I am also exploring the solutions that artificial intelligence can bring, such as finding patterns of pedophiles, and also the problems that these can entail. For example, I consider that big data is a technology that has facilitated human trafficking.

BODY CONNECTED TO "HACKABLE" MACHINES

This relationship between humans and technology has become more real since the development of the brain–computer interface (BCI). This technology was created by major research centres around the world, and has also been applied for a number of years now by some of the world’s most important tech tycoons, such as Mark Zuckerberg —founder of Facebook—and Elon Musk, creator of Tesla and Space X.

They are all trying to overcome this last barrier:?connecting our brains so that we can interact with the outside world. The consequences of achieving a real connection seem like science fiction: people with spinal cord injuries who can control their wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs with their thoughts. As the technology for building bionic limbs progresses, so does the way they are connected to the brain to provide new capabilities. For example, the latest generation of BCIs are already?capable of transmitting touch sensations to the brain, giving the mind feedback that allows movements to be controlled with greater precision.

Implantable electronic devices can also be used to improve and monitor our health; pacemakers and deep brain stimulation electrodes are no longer novelties, but technology will allow us to control broader aspects of our bodily functioning in the future. In my recent book CYBERBIOSECURITY - Can We Hack the Human Body prediction analysis showed that in about 3-4?years, we will be able to record everything about our medical condition and transmit it live to our doctors.?If you’re diabetic, you will know immediately if you need to take less or more sugar. This interaction will bring benefits, but also threats. The concern will no longer be about whether you have lost money in your bank account, but whether a hacker can make your heart stop beating.

At the same time that scientists are making progress towards restoring lost abilities or improving health through bionics, there is also a movement in the form of communities of biohackers who are trying to increase their capabilities by inserting electronics into their bodies. An example is the?colour-blind artist Neil Harbisson, who in 2004 had an antenna implanted in his skull to receive electromagnetic signals (colours) which are transformed into audible vibrations through his skull, allowing him to "hear" colours. As a result of using the antenna, he also links what he hears through his ears, such as music or voices, to different colours, allowing him to paint sounds. Harbisson has experimented with other systems, such as a type of watch implanted in his head or a tooth with Bluetooth communication, called, of course, Bluetooth Tooth.

This movement, represented by Harbisson, who identifies as a cyborg and trans-species, has given rise to a group of extreme?biohackers known today as grinders. But while this may sound eccentric, and perhaps even dystopian, to most humans, it is actually not so far removed from everyday reality: in recent years, some companies have launched schemes to replace access or facility use cards with microchips implanted under the skin. Although there is an ethical debate,?this practice also has its advocates.

But this is not the end of the ways in which we are becoming increasingly hackable. The unstoppable need for connectivity has led to millions of objects being connected to the Internet. Refrigerators, washing machines, cars, and lamps can now be controlled by an app. The Internet of Things (IoT), on which we are increasingly dependent, is making our lives easier and providing us with functions we could not access before, such as activating our home alarm with a smartphone from halfway around the world. But as we become ever more connected, we also become more exposed, so it is no longer science fiction. It become a reality!