References
Acta Astronautica draft, SETI Hacker Bremen articleBioastronomy 2002 article, Russian translation-A. Turchin
Bremen Power Point (700 kB)
Biocontamination
- Biological contamination from space samples is a remote but accepted possibility.
- Possible biological
contamination led to the establishment of a protocol
for decontaminating
material returning from space
- The International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) has developed a protocol through international space bodies and the United Nations
"Computer"
virus
contamination
of a SETI signal?
- SETI signals might also contain a harmful "SETI Hacker" message similar to a computer virus.
With an unsuspecting receiver an electromagnetic wave can move "alien" signal across cosmos at light speed.
Is a SETI virus conjecture just science fiction?
Comments received from Leslie Sage, Senior Editor of Nature, on submission of an article about SETI Hacker “While the subject does cross interdisciplinary lines this is not the main criterion we use for selection. Rather, papers should report deep new physical insights, … We have been unable to identify such aspects in the paper. The general premise of the manuscript even lacks some conceptual novelty, as it has already been explored in the book 3001, the Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke.”
Some science fiction works on the SETI virus possibility include include The Siren Stars, D. Carrigan and N. Carrigan (originally serialized in the magazine Analog in 1970) and A for Andromeda, F. Hoyle and J. Elliot, Souvenir Press (1962). top
An ETI computer virus
- Raw signal in memory must bootstrap to status of operating program (can test this as a possibility)
- Program must then untangle the inner workings of the host. (Is it possible to now build a diagnosis program to determine the operating set of an unfamiliar computer?)
- Then learn how to translate unpacking program into local computer language top
More expert criticism of ETI virus possibility
Expert criticisms of this virus picture:
- Viruses use known features of system to find a portal
- Idiosyncratic language is an unbreakable firewall
- Download process seriously scrambles the signal content. ETI code too complicated and not earth-adapted
But remember, ordinary unmotivated computer and biological viruses are very common! top
Dangerous ETI signal
Prophylactic measures
- Keep downloaded SETI signals on machines isolated from analysis
- Fragment SETI signals into small packets and keep apart
- Quarantine on isolated computers and watch for aberrant behavior
- Check sums and program integrity checks
- Could SETI translation use one-time ciphers for operating codes?
- Beacons can be handled without as much care as messages top
Actions to protect against SETI
Hacker
- Revise item 6 of the present SETI signal detection protocol so data is more tightly controlled
- Rethink widely dispersed data of SETI@home
- Prepare to act promptly if a signal is found
- Convene a COSPAR type workshop of experts in SETI, computer security, cryptography, biological contamination, and archaeology
To paraphrase Cocconi and Morrison
for the possibility of a malevolent SETI signal --- the
probability of a contaminated SETI signal is difficult
to estimate; but if we never consider it the chance of
infection is not zero.
top