How red teams impact your reputation and why a strong screening practice helps.
Red teaming - a common practice in cybersecurity and physical security - is being applied to biosecurity, particularly in DNA synthesis screening, to detect vulnerabilities and improve screening systems. As the biotechnology industry evolves, red team efforts will get more sophisticated and more frequent.
In the past few years, several, high-profile red team exercises have already targeted 50 of the world’s largest DNA synthesis providers and startups to test their screening protocols. The most prominent studies motivated more regulatory oversight and affected how the scientific community and the public perceive this industry:
The public nature of some red team findings can surprise organizations and create challenges to communicate how they’re supporting responsible use. Earlier this year, the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC), an organization of the world’s leading gene synthesis companies, disagreed with some of the findings from a red team study led by researchers at MIT, pointing out that IGSC member companies screened the sequence ordered and the customer in accordance with US government guidance.
At the same time, the IGSC advocated for better evaluation and increased stress testing by DNA synthesis companies.
In an industry facing public and governmental scrutiny, strong security practices and the trust they build go a long way to ensure biotechnology’s growth and effective future policies.
Red teaming to assess biosecurity risks of new advances like protein language models and enzymatic DNA synthesis among others can make or break a company’s reputation. These exercises help uphold the integrity of the industry and will continue to stress test the industry’s security protocols and implementation.
The 2023 White House Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence specifically calls for stress testing of nucleic acid synthesis screening in addition to mandating providers and benchtop synthesis manufacturers publicly attest their compliance as part of a new federal funding requirement. Organizations like RAND and Twist Biosciences have long advocated for more red team exercises, emphasizing periodic testing to ensure screening protocols evolve with technology.
The best way for organizations to mitigate reputational risk is to adopt comprehensive screening requirements and adhere to established standards, such as the OSTP screening framework and HHS screening guidance. This protects them from exposure to red team studies, helps build trust with public and community stakeholders, and demonstrates a commitment to safety and responsibility.
As synthetic biology and artificial intelligence advance, red teaming will remain a popular tool for evaluating biosecurity measures. The future of red teaming will likely involve more public disclosure and continued stress testing of DNA synthesis providers. Companies that adopt stringent screening measures will reduce their risk of failing these exercises and enhance their standing in a rapidly changing biosecurity landscape.
With Aclid, you can streamline your screening process and automate more than 80% of the work. Learn how you can get compliant faster by requesting a demo.
Subscribe to our newsletter for regular industry and regulatory updates.
Book a demo today
