An Information Security Device Ontology for Advanced Neuroprosthetics

Abstract

In order to create an effective information security framework for neuroprosthetics, it is necessary to first develop an appropriate ontology for such devices. Such an ontology should define the range of possible values for relevant characteristics that are critical for information security and whose values can vary across the universe of neuroprosthetic devices. The ontology should include both the physical characteristics, processes, and contexts and relationships possessed by such devices; it thus differs from (and is necessary for the effective development of) security configuration checklists that would be used to configure particular neuroprosthetic devices for secure operation in their individual human hosts. Scholars and device manufacturers have made efforts to create general ontologies for robotic systems and mobile devices, however there has not yet been developed an ontology that focuses on the information security characteristics of neuroprosthetic devices. In part, the lack of creation of such formal tools is an effect of the relatively low level of interaction and collaboration between the fields of information security and biomedical engineering. By synthesizing information gathered from a review of current literature and practice in the fields of neuroprosthetics, implantable computing, and information security, we develop one such ontology within this chapter. Note that because many neuroprosthetic devices are also computers, mobile devices, or implantable medical devices, any generalized information security ontology that is applicable to computers, mobile devices, or IMDs will also apply to the relevant kinds of neuroprosthetic devices. The specialized ontology developed here can be understood as a more detailed and focused extension and complement to such ontologies that analyzes the form and functioning of neuroprosthetic devices from the perspective of their particular information security features and risks.