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Thread: Pacemaker Security

  1. #1
    Senior Member phernandez's Avatar
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    Pacemaker Security

    *BEEP* Your heart's being hacked.

    Sort of a follow-up to this disturbing thread from earlier in the year: Hacking Humans

    Researchers target hack-proof pacemakers - EE Times

    There are over 2.5 million medical implants, including 600,000 pacemakers (implantable cardioverter deýbrillators) currently in use in the U.S., according to Fu. Many are programmable, using the 402-405 MHz medical implant communication service or the older short-range 175-KHz band. Most implants are programmable only in the doctor's office, but an increasing number are being made accessible over the Internet, thus exposing them to the possibility of hacks.

    ...A prototype protection circuit uses a wireless integrated sensor platform RFID tag to detect hacks without drawing any power from a pacemaker battery. It then uses a piezoelectric actuator to provide heart patients with an audible alarm that pacemaker security has been breached.
    Moral of the story: take care of that ticker!

  2. #2
    Gonzo District BOFH westin's Avatar
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    I can just see it...

    Eighty-seven year old Jeremy Finsch was startled earlier this evening as his heart unexpectedly started thumping to the beat of 'Ice, Ice, Baby'. He says this is 'most disturbing' because he has never been a hip-hop fan. "Couldn't they have picked something by Johnny Cash, or even Merl Haggard?" Finsch said in an interview. Doctors say Jeremy is lucky the criminals weren't NOFX fans.
    Last edited by westin; October 9th, 2008 at 08:33 PM.
    \"Those of us that had been up all night were in no mood for coffee and donuts, we wanted strong drink.\"

    -HST

  3. #3
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
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    Yar!, whaddya gonna do with a hacked pacemaker?

    Send spam?
    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

  4. #4
    Senior Member t34b4g5's Avatar
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    Smile

    Quote Originally Posted by westin View Post
    I can just see it...

    Eighty-seven year old Jeremy Finsch was startled earlier this evening as his heart unexpectedly started thumping to the beat of 'Ice, Ice, Baby'. He says this is 'most disturbing' because he has never been a hip-hop fan. "Couldn't they have picked something by Johnny Cash, or even Merl Haggard?" Finsch said in an interview. Doctors say Jeremy is lucky the criminals weren't NOFX fans.
    Damn now that was an amusing way of putting it.

    Kind of reminds me back in the day my father could grind he's teeth and pick up radio signals, and if you listened closly you could here the people/music playing.

    He used to hate it because afterwards he would always get a migraine.

  5. #5
    rebmeM roineS enilnOitnA steve.milner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brokencrow View Post
    Yar!, whaddya gonna do with a hacked pacemaker?

    Send spam?
    Nope, how about a couple of deaths to demonstrate a capability & then blackmail the pacemaker manufacturer.

    Regards,

    Steve
    IT, e-commerce, Retail, Programme & Project Management, EPoS, Supply Chain and Logistic Services. Yorkshire. http://www.bigi.uk.com

  6. #6
    THE Bastard Sys***** dinowuff's Avatar
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    ^ that's using you noggin!

    *DATE LINE CNN*
    *HACKERS hold over 200,000 people, world wide, under threat of heart failure*
    pacemaker inc. refuses comment.
    09:F9:11:02:9D:74:E3:5B8:41:56:C5:63:56:88:C0

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