11:34 AM
Kinsz
Experts fear that some medical devices are open to cyber attacks. Medical implants such as those used to treat heart disease and diabetes, for example, are currently being operated wirelessly, but security experts are concerned that these insecure devices are putting the lives of many at risk of cyber attacks.
Jack Barnaby, a researcher from the security firm McAfee, has found that the likes of insulin-delivering pumps, cardiac rhythm-monitoring defibrillators and pace-makers are currently exposed to cyber hackers because these wirelessly operated devices are not armed with authentication or encryption software to prevent them from being remotely hacked into.
Using a mannequin fitted with an insulin pump, Barnaby ran tests to show how vulnerable people's implants were to being hacked into by a computer and antenna: "We can make that pump dispense its entire 300 unit reservoir of insulin and we can do that without requiring its ID number" he told the BBC. The BBC also revealed that other research has suggested that particular radio frequencies, too, could shut down a heart defibrillator.
One firm who designers and develops such devices, Medtronic, has tried to counteract Barnaby's concerns by revealing that they are trying to do 'everything they can' to address these life-threatening security flaws. "This is an evolution from having to think about security and safety as a healthcare company, and really about keeping people safe on our therapy, to this different question about keeping people safe around criminal or malicious intent", Catherine Szyman, president of Medtronic's diabetes division, has told the Daily Mail.
Mean while, researchers from the University of Massachusetts, who discovered these security flaws back in 2008, have revealed a wearable 'shield' device they have developed that emits a jamming signal when an unauthorized attacker hacks into the device. Doctors, however, would still be able to access the medical implant's data.
Jack Barnaby, a researcher from the security firm McAfee, has found that the likes of insulin-delivering pumps, cardiac rhythm-monitoring defibrillators and pace-makers are currently exposed to cyber hackers because these wirelessly operated devices are not armed with authentication or encryption software to prevent them from being remotely hacked into.
Using a mannequin fitted with an insulin pump, Barnaby ran tests to show how vulnerable people's implants were to being hacked into by a computer and antenna: "We can make that pump dispense its entire 300 unit reservoir of insulin and we can do that without requiring its ID number" he told the BBC. The BBC also revealed that other research has suggested that particular radio frequencies, too, could shut down a heart defibrillator.
One firm who designers and develops such devices, Medtronic, has tried to counteract Barnaby's concerns by revealing that they are trying to do 'everything they can' to address these life-threatening security flaws. "This is an evolution from having to think about security and safety as a healthcare company, and really about keeping people safe on our therapy, to this different question about keeping people safe around criminal or malicious intent", Catherine Szyman, president of Medtronic's diabetes division, has told the Daily Mail.
Mean while, researchers from the University of Massachusetts, who discovered these security flaws back in 2008, have revealed a wearable 'shield' device they have developed that emits a jamming signal when an unauthorized attacker hacks into the device. Doctors, however, would still be able to access the medical implant's data.
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