# Bidirectional BCI Security **Entity class:** Security architecture ## Definition **Bidirectional BCI security** protects systems that both decode neural activity and write signals back through stimulation or neuromodulation. Read and write paths create different attack surfaces: the forward path can expose, corrupt, or misclassify neural signals; the backward path can deliver unauthorized or unsafe commands to the nervous system. ## Control requirements The architecture requires authenticated commands, least-privilege authorization, cryptographic integrity, bounded stimulation parameters, anomaly detection, auditable state changes, fail-safe modes, secure updates, trusted recovery configurations, and verification of the resulting biological state. A technically repaired implant is not fully restored if a malicious or malfunctioning write operation has left an adverse state downstream. ## Relationships - **general field:** [[wiki/Neurosecurity|Neurosecurity]]. - **system boundary:** [[wiki/Cyber-Biological System|Cyber-Biological System]]. - **write path:** [[wiki/Neural Command Channel|Neural Command Channel]]. - **attack class:** [[wiki/Brainjacking|Brainjacking]]. - **interface:** [[wiki/Brain-Computer Interfaces|Brain-Computer Interfaces]]. ## Sources / Provenance - Xinyu Jiang et al., [“Cybersecurity in neural interfaces: Survey and future trends”](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37883851/), 2023. - U.S. Food and Drug Administration, [“Cybersecurity in Medical Devices Frequently Asked Questions”](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/cybersecurity-medical-devices-frequently-asked-questions-faqs), current page accessed 2026-09-23. **As of:** 2026-09-23