Medical equipment, including pacemakers, vulnerable to hackers

Here's a scary rarity: A computer security risk that could cost you your life. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts have found that medical equipment, including pacemakers and implanted cardiac defibrillators, can be hacked through wireless technology. In specific terms, the researchers were able to send commands to the devices without authorization, reprogram them, and even cause them to deliver a high-voltage shock on command.

Wireless technology is used by doctors to monitor a pacemaker or defibrillator, allowing it to be adjusted as needed. Hacks can interfere with this operation in two ways: By turning them off altogether, or by causing them to go into overdrive, possibly sending a powerful shock that could kill you. The wireless signal is not encrypted.

While the researchers are careful to note that no one has ever been the victim of a malicious attack like this (at least none that has been reported) and that the real danger here is minimal, the implications are profound for thousands of people who already have implanted devices like these, especially once the details of the exploit become common knowledge. These devices represent a rising trend, too, as doctors turn to similar equipment to treat even more conditions.

What to do about it? If you've got a wireless pacemaker, there's really nothing you can do. If it's a procedure you're considering, you'd obviously be foolish to bypass essential medical equipment because you're afraid a hacker might sneak up on you and turn it off while you're not looking, but it's certainly prudent to check with your doctor about what might be done to prevent malicious (and possibly accidental) attacks like this in the future, and whether your equipment could be updated to take advantage of any new security features.