Heart Device Found Vulnerable to Hackers

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You know, it is bad enough that our PCs are vulnerable to hackers but now pacemakers are too? What the? Researchers say that they have been able to gain wireless access to a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker and take control of its functions. Thanks to Fam Money for the link.

They were able to reprogram it to shut down and to deliver jolts of electricity that would potentially be fatal--if the device had been in a person. In this case, the researchers were hacking into a device in a laboratory.
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Now I would assume wireless access as a component is there so they can do outpatient adjustments, persay. If not, what the feck are they thinking?
 
Hacking things to hurt people is way, WAY against what the hacker community at large stands for. But it has happened before.
Remember the Swatters? http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/02/04/fbi_catches_five_swatters/7930/

There will always be someone, or someones out there that will take things too far.
The Swatters actually ended up causing some old guy to have a heart attack, as well as a number of broken bones and other injuries as a result of their games.
I for one can think of no benign reason to hack a pacemaker.
 
Seriously, hacking a computer is one thing. Fucking with someone and potentially killing them is just messed up.
 
Agreed. Going as far as taking someone's life is just way too far. Commit all the federal offenses you want. Just leave the less fortunate the hell alone.
 
Vashypooh said:
Seriously, hacking a computer is one thing. Fucking with someone and potentially killing them is just messed up.
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QFT!!!!


Could probably be defined as torture to... speeding it up and slowing it down, etc. Really fucked up.
 
Humm,
Where is the how to on overclocking your pacemaker?
Were can you download the BIOS updates for pacemakers?

I knew there was a wireless link that is used to download functional data, and adjust the programming, I guess we all assumed it was a secure link.
 
You'll be crazy to hack a pacemakers.

If I was ever on a jury for a case like this because someone wanted to see what they can do to others with a pacemakers, you pretty much know what my verdict is. Wouldn't even need a break to deliberate.

And my advice to the defendant, I hope you bring a lot of KY Jelly, because you're going to need a lot of them for the rest of your life behind bars. :)
 
Talk about life imitating art, that was how someone was assassinated in one of Barry Eisler's novels (can't remember which one).
 
As screwed up as I may sound, but there's just someone out there that's going to use this just because. It's just like that kid that killed his dad because the dad took the internet away. And the sad part is that he didn't have any remorse. Yep, there are some like that.
 
The article suggests that this vulnerability is some ways away from being a workable attack against a person. The researches used $30000 in equipment and had to be two inches away from the pacemaker. Nevertheless, there's no reason the pacemaker manufactures can't incorporate a bit of security.
 
Reading this just made me think of Death Note...except the notebook is a laptop...and it involves more than just writing someone's name down...
 
JimmyNeutron said:
You'll be crazy to hack a pacemakers.

If I was ever on a jury for a case like this because someone wanted to see what they can do to others with a pacemakers, you pretty much know what my verdict is. Wouldn't even need a break to deliberate.

And my advice to the defendant, I hope you bring a lot of KY Jelly, because you're going to need a lot of them for the rest of your life behind bars. :)
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My advice to the defendant would be to shave his head, as he would be seeing ole sparky soon.
 
Isn't that a little convoluted? Why not just walk up next to them with a stripped down microwave?
 
I wonder how long the NSA and the CIA have know about this and how many times they've used it to attack.
Nokia
 
News flash water is wet according to a 3 million dollar study. The devise needs to be in 2 inches of the person they need to sit still and the device would keep a record of its actions making it obvious what happened...........if it succeeded. You would need to know a lot about defibrillator/pacers to change the settings and gain access to the person and keep them from getting help. Why not just shoot them?

I wonder how much they made from this scam?
 
I want to get funded for a study. I am sure I can think of some absurd crap to get paid. Why people pick the themes for thier Myspace pages.
 
Fharakin said:
I want to get funded for a study. I am sure I can think of some absurd crap to get paid. Why people pick the themes for thier Myspace pages.
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You can do it for your dissertation and it can end up in an article like this. :D
 
Zoogle said:
Reading this just made me think of Death Note...except the notebook is a laptop...and it involves more than just writing someone's name down...
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NOPE! Without Ryuk, there's no way you can kill someone with a notebook or laptop.
 
Crazy stuff. Obviousely no real hacker would care about killing someone like that, but just having the possibility is a scary thing.
 
Have you ever noticed how news articles make "hackers" out as terrorists or just plain bad people. I think most true hackers are just curious and intelligent people who are interested in finding out how something works. Most have no desire to harm an individual or even an organization, they are just seeing what's in the black box.

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XamediX said:
NOPE! Without Ryuk, there's no way you can kill someone with a notebook or laptop.
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If I hit someone on the head with my notebook I bet it would do some damage :)
 
I'm extremely pissed off at this article. My father worked for Medtronic for the better part of two decades.

Did anyone read the last part of this thing? They had to use 30,000 dollars worth of specialized lab equipment, and the sensors had to be put TWO INCHES away from the unit to pick up the signal.

Do you realize how minute that signal is? No one is going to be sitting across the room killing patients with implantable defibrilatiors any time soon. There are a couple of really good reasons WHY that signal is so weak. The main one is to preserve the battery. The idea is for the unit to last as long as possible without having to do additional surgery to replace it any more than possible. AND why would they be stupid enough to put a powerful signal on such a device? They damn well know that if you could access it from across a room the patient could be in trouble. We are talking about the premier maker of implantable medical devices in the world here. They do, in fact, know what they are doing!

All this article is, is CRAP. It's part of the usual propaganda that goes around in the war between biomedical companies. It's designed to hurt Medtronic's image and stock price. Nothing more.
 
Plenty hackers have clearly no problem with ruining ones life. Holding them to ransom would be just another way to make a quick buck.
 
You guys are right, no ethical hacker would do this. However many governments wouldn't mind their agents siding up next to the president or other government official and suddenly stopping his heart. Doesn't Cheney have a pacemaker? :D All we need now is a Pringles can.
 
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