CardioEquation takes security seriously. As a project dealing with medical and biometric data, we are committed to ensuring the safety, privacy, and security of all users and their data.

Important Notice: This software is intended for research and educational purposes only. It is NOT approved for clinical diagnosis, medical decision-making, or production medical applications without proper validation, certification, and regulatory approval.

We provide security updates for the following versions:

We take all security vulnerabilities seriously. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly:

DO:

• Report privately through GitHub's Security Advisory feature
• Email the maintainers directly at [security email - to be added]
• Provide detailed information about the vulnerability

DON'T:

• Create public GitHub issues for security vulnerabilities
• Disclose the vulnerability publicly before it's been addressed
• Exploit the vulnerability maliciously

Please include the following information:

1. Description: Detailed description of the vulnerability
2. Impact: Potential impact and severity
3. Steps to Reproduce: Clear steps to reproduce the issue
4. Affected Versions: Which versions are affected
5. Proof of Concept: Code or screenshots demonstrating the issue (if applicable)
6. Suggested Fix: If you have ideas for fixing the issue
7. Your Contact Information: How we can reach you for follow-up

• Acknowledgment: Within 48 hours of receiving your report
• Initial Assessment: Within 7 days
• Status Update: Every 14 days until resolved
• Resolution: Varies by severity (critical issues prioritized)
• Public Disclosure: After fix is deployed and users have been notified

This project may handle sensitive medical data (ECG signals). Users must:

• Comply with regulations: HIPAA (US), GDPR (EU), and local privacy laws
• De-identify data: Remove all personally identifiable information (PII)
• Secure storage: Use encrypted storage for any medical data
• Access control: Implement proper authentication and authorization
• Audit trails: Maintain logs of data access and modifications

# ✅ GOOD: Use de-identified data
ecg_data = load_deidentified_ecg("patient_001.dat")  # No PII in filename or data

# ❌ BAD: Including PII
ecg_data = load_ecg("john_doe_ssn_123456789.dat")  # Contains PII

# ✅ GOOD: Validate inputs
def predict_parameters(ecg_signal):
    if not is_valid_ecg(ecg_signal):
        raise ValueError("Invalid ECG signal")
    # ... process
    
# ❌ BAD: No validation
def predict_parameters(ecg_signal):
    # Directly using untrusted input
    return model.predict(ecg_signal)

# ✅ GOOD: Use environment variables for sensitive config
export MODEL_KEY=$(cat /secure/path/key.txt)

# ❌ BAD: Hardcoding secrets
MODEL_KEY = "hardcoded_secret_key_123"

Risk: Adversarial attacks on neural network models

• Mitigation: Input validation, anomaly detection, rate limiting
• Status: Monitoring ongoing research

Risk: Model inversion attacks (extracting training data)

• Mitigation: Differential privacy, secure model deployment
• Status: Planned for future releases

Risk: Unencrypted medical data storage

• Mitigation: User responsibility to encrypt stored data
• Status: Documentation provided

Risk: Data leakage through model outputs

• Mitigation: Output validation, PII filtering
• Status: Implemented in v1.0

Risk: Vulnerabilities in third-party packages

• Mitigation: Regular dependency updates, security scanning
• Status: Automated checks planned

Risk: Supply chain attacks

• Mitigation: Use pinned versions, verify package integrity
• Status: requirements.txt with version pins

We conduct regular internal security reviews:

• Code Review: All PRs undergo security review
• Dependency Scanning: Monthly review of dependencies
• Static Analysis: Automated security scanning
• Penetration Testing: Planned for future releases

We welcome security researchers to review our code:

• Responsible disclosure program
• Recognition in SECURITY.md
• Potential bug bounty program (future)

• ✅ Input validation for ECG signals
• ✅ Parameter range checking
• ✅ Error handling without information leakage
• ✅ Safe model loading and serialization
• ✅ Dependency version pinning

• 🔜 Differential privacy for model training
• 🔜 Encrypted model storage
• 🔜 Secure multi-party computation
• 🔜 Federated learning support
• 🔜 Audit logging system

We ask security researchers to:

1. Give us time: Allow reasonable time to fix vulnerabilities before public disclosure
2. Act in good faith: Don't exploit vulnerabilities or access data you shouldn't
3. Be constructive: Provide detailed information to help us fix issues
4. Follow the law: Don't violate any laws while researching

1. Acknowledge: Respond to your report within 48 hours
2. Communicate: Keep you updated on our progress
3. Credit: Publicly thank you for responsible disclosure (unless you prefer anonymity)
4. Fix: Address valid vulnerabilities in a timely manner
5. Disclose: Publicly disclose the issue after it's fixed (coordinated disclosure)

We recognize security researchers who help improve CardioEquation's security:

No security vulnerabilities have been reported yet.

This software is NOT:

• FDA approved or cleared
• CE marked for medical use
• Validated for clinical diagnosis
• Intended for patient care decisions

If you intend to use this software in a clinical setting:

• Obtain necessary regulatory approvals
• Conduct proper clinical validation
• Implement appropriate quality management systems
• Comply with all applicable medical device regulations

GDPR Compliance (EU):

• Obtain consent for processing personal data
• Implement data minimization principles
• Enable data subject rights (access, deletion, portability)
• Conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)

HIPAA Compliance (US):

• Use only de-identified or encrypted data
• Implement technical safeguards
• Maintain audit logs
• Execute Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) if applicable

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

The MIT License provides the software "as is" without warranty. Users assume all risks associated with using the software, especially in medical contexts.

• GitHub: Use GitHub Security Advisories for private reporting
• Email: [To be added - dedicated security email]
• PGP Key: [To be added if needed]

For non-security questions:

• Open a GitHub issue
• Join discussions on GitHub Discussions
• Check our documentation

• OWASP Top 10
• CWE Top 25
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework

• FDA Guidance on Cybersecurity
• MDCG 2019-16 Guidance on Cybersecurity
• IEC 62304 Medical Device Software

• HIPAA Privacy Rule
• GDPR Official Text
• CCPA Information

This security policy may be updated periodically. Major changes will be announced through:

• GitHub releases
• Project README
• Security advisories (for critical updates)

Last Updated: December 2025
Version: 1.0

Remember: Security is everyone's responsibility. If you see something, say something!

Thank you for helping keep CardioEquation and its users safe! 🛡️