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People see this. I guess Thorn won't be able to come to Defcon anymore (drum roll) :-). I know terrible.
xor
This adds new meaning to the term computer forensics.
You thought hackers have a bad name now.
Research: Heart implant could be hacked
Published: March 12, 2008 at 7:58 AM
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SEATTLE, March 12 (UPI) -- A heart defibrillator-pacemaker combination is vulnerable to hacking, a team of U.S. computer security researchers say.
In the lab, researchers could reprogram the device to shut down and deliver potentially fatal jolts of electricity if it were implanted, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Researchers said they could intercept patient data by "eavesdropping" on signals from the wireless radio embedded in the implant so doctors could monitor and adjust the device without surgery.
The report, published Wednesday at www.secure-medicine.org, said hundreds of thousands of people with implanted defibrillators or pacemakers -- including U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney -- needn't worry about hackers. The experiment required more than $30,000 worth of lab equipment and a continuous effort to interpret the data from the implant's signals. The device the University of Washington and University of Massachusetts researchers tested -- a Medtronic defibrillator-pacemaker -- was within inches of the test gear.
The researchers said results suggested that little attention was being paid to security in medical implants with communications capabilities.
"The risks to patients now are very low but I worry that they could increase in the future," said Tadayoshi Kohno, a lead project researcher at the University of Washington.
Obviously he has never been to Defcon :-).
xor
This adds new meaning to the term computer forensics.
You thought hackers have a bad name now.
Research: Heart implant could be hacked
Published: March 12, 2008 at 7:58 AM
Print story
Email to a friend
Font size:
SEATTLE, March 12 (UPI) -- A heart defibrillator-pacemaker combination is vulnerable to hacking, a team of U.S. computer security researchers say.
In the lab, researchers could reprogram the device to shut down and deliver potentially fatal jolts of electricity if it were implanted, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Researchers said they could intercept patient data by "eavesdropping" on signals from the wireless radio embedded in the implant so doctors could monitor and adjust the device without surgery.
The report, published Wednesday at www.secure-medicine.org, said hundreds of thousands of people with implanted defibrillators or pacemakers -- including U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney -- needn't worry about hackers. The experiment required more than $30,000 worth of lab equipment and a continuous effort to interpret the data from the implant's signals. The device the University of Washington and University of Massachusetts researchers tested -- a Medtronic defibrillator-pacemaker -- was within inches of the test gear.
The researchers said results suggested that little attention was being paid to security in medical implants with communications capabilities.
"The risks to patients now are very low but I worry that they could increase in the future," said Tadayoshi Kohno, a lead project researcher at the University of Washington.
Obviously he has never been to Defcon :-).
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