Heart monitors hacked
I don’t need to remind you that computers are everywhere - this is the intarwub, after all. But even I get a bit surprised at some of the specific places computers end up - I never knew that people are being implanted with heart monitor/defibrillators that can broadcast data about the patient’s condition back to their doctor. [image by CarbonNYC]
Having found that out, though, I’m not at all surprised to hear that researchers have found a security vulnerability that could potentially allow an attacker to compromise and deactivate the device and prevent it from delivering the heart-restarting shocks it is designed for.
Repeat after me - everything can and will be hacked.
On the subject of electric shocks to the body, you can choose to have them for fun as opposed to for your health; the grinders point out the arrival of the Mindwire V5 electroshock force-feedback device, which will interface with your games console and deliver a brisk jolt to your hands when you get PWNED. Pain is fun, kids!
March 13th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Scary, isn’t it? I came across one of the devices used to read and re-configure pace-makers. Someone I knew came across it. They asked me if I could find out any information about it on the Internet. I remember finding probably one or two websites that mentioned this thing. It was nearly as big as a mini-tower computer case. I wouldn’t be surprised if the thing ends up in the hands of a “computer enthusiast.”