Taking Hacking to Heart
March 13, 2008 – 2:17 pmAccording to a blog post on The Reeves Law Group Blog, we may now have to worry about hackers cracking pacemakers. Apparently, certain Medtronic pacemakers have wireless radios which allow doctors to easily monitor the device. A group of computer security researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Massachusetts claim they were able to access the devices.
While the researchers required sophisticated lab equipment which had to be placed within two inches of the device, they were able to reprogram the pacemaker to shut down or deliver potentially fatal jolts of electricity. According to the researchers, these tests demonstrate that too little attention is being paid to security in the growing number of medical devices being equipped with communications capabilities.
Hundreds of thousands of people currently have implanted defibrillators to regulate their hearts. Considering one of these patients is Vice President Dick Cheney, this could indeed be a cause for concern.
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