Hackers will soon be able to manipulate people's memory through brain implants, researchers warn

The development of so-called neurostimulators may lead to dystopian scenarios whereby hackers create false memories and implant them in people's brains, researchers have warned. The human brain is vulnerable to manipulation through implantable medical devices used to treat things like Parkinson's, according to a practical and theoretical review of this and other scenarios undertaken by the University of Oxford Functional Neurosurgery Group and Russian cyber security firm Kaspersky. Within a decade, technology will also have progressed to the point that commercial memory boosting implants will be available to buy, according to the researchers, while 20 years from now could see a time when it will the technology will be advanced enough to allow for "extensive control over memories." The development of these technologies will have a number of healthcare benefits and will open up the possibility of new bio-connected technologies like increased brain capacity, however it also holds the potential for exploitation and abuse. "New threats resulting from this could include the mass manipulation of groups through implanted or erased memories of political events or conflicts; while'repurposed' cyberthreats could target new opportunities for cyber-espionage or the theft, deletion of, or'locking' of memories (for example, in return for a ransom)," the researchers wrote in their report'The Memory Market: Preparing for a future where cyberthreats target your past'.