Heart Defibrillators Vulnerable To Hacking

[Foxy Brown]

Letting people into your heart now takes on a whole new meaning. U.S. researchers reported today that implanted heart defibrillators, which can jump start an arrhythmic heart back into beating normally, are vulnerable to external hacking.

During the testing phase, the research team was able to make one Medtronic device release sensitive patient information off its computer chip, and got it to fire improperly and run its battery down using inexpensive equipment, according to a Reuters report.

[chokkan 2]

shit .....

[shadowstar]

Well that's gotta suck...

 

[SomethingWild]

Why would anyone want to hack someone's defribillator?!

[Asmodai]

Evil practical joke, blackmail or murder?

[Pharadox]

WTF. That's pretty low, hacking someone's defibrillator.

There has never been a documented malicious attack on someone's implantable cardiac defibrillator. A spokesperson from Medtronic said that the devices, which had carried such telemetry for 30 years, have never experienced any reported hacking problems.

So, kind of makes you wonder just how bored these researchers were.

Researcher 1: "Dude... let's see if we can hack a debrillator!"

Other researchers give Researcher 1 very, very odd looks.

Researcher 1: "... It could happen. Does anyone else have any better ideas, or for that matter, any ideas at all?"

Other researchers, in fact, do not.