Scientists Address Hacking Risk for Heart Devices

A pacemaker may not seem like an obvious target for a hacker to pursue. But in March of this year, US researchers demonstrated they could hack an implantable cardioverter defibrillator using relatively inexpensive equipment. Although the risk may be remote, the potential implications are troubling, to say the least, because such devices could be potentially reprogrammed by remote hijackers to injure or kill the patient.

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have devised a cloaking device to protect the security of implantable medical devices. In case of an emergency, the device could be removed to provide open access to medical professionals.

Another solution to the threat was presented by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who had the idea to use the patient’s heartbeat as an encryption key. According to the Chinese scientists, the encryption method is safer than conventional fingerprint recognition systems.

Tags: defibrillator, implantable medical devices, pacemakers