The 'Wikileaks' and 'Anonymous' weenies of this world are not heroic, they are techie con-men in a modern age. And their motivations are oft nefarious.
So when medical device makers forgot to design wireless security into their products hackers took notice.
Why would anyone want to hack into patient wearing a pacemaker or insulin pump controlled by a microprocessor and unsecured software? Because they can.
McAfee's Barnaby Jack managed to hijack a well-known make of insulin pump in just 2-weeks hacking its radio signals using a small antenna. Barnaby says, 'we can make that pump dispense its entire 300 unit reservoir of insulin and we can do that without requiring its ID number.' Barnaby notes, 'When you actually look at these devices, the security vulnerabilities are quite shocking.'
Pacemakers are just as vulnerable. Hackers can simply command the devices to overload and shock the patient's heart 'till it stops beating. Or place a diabetic into a coma flooding them with too much insulin.
Will a hacker kill someone for sport? Remember, these are not 'normal' people. Be forewarned if you've got one of these things in your body. And demand your supplier get busy and fix it.
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