Pacemakers / pacemakers susceptible to remote hacking

It is true that the more complex the devices become, and the more actively the integration of such devices into the system, the more dangerous the actions of hackers can be. Already many times they spoke on the remote control of “smart houses” and other systems, but this time the craftsmen went even further and were able to learn how to control the heart pacemaker, and remotely, from 9 meters.

At a conference of computer security experts, held yesterday in Melbourne, Australia, a craftsman named Barnaby Jack (IO Activ) demonstrated the possibility of remotely hacking a pacemaker controlling the rhythm of the heartbeat. To do this, the hacker needed a laptop, device model and serial numbers. After receiving all the necessary Barnaby was able to update the firmware of the device, getting full control of the pacemaker of the heart (of course, the craftsman performed all the operations on a separate device, which for obvious reasons did not control the human cardiovascular system).
')
So, Barnaby was able to turn off the pacemaker remotely, and even caused a discharge of 850 volts, which would probably just kill the carrier. The hacker (I use this term in a positive sense) performed my work in order to demonstrate to the manufacturers of medical equipment the vulnerability of their devices. He said that in many cases it is not difficult to establish full control of such devices, and there is no need to authenticate of any kind.

In general, quite a demonstration, I would like to hope that the manufacturers of such systems will attend to the creation of a reliable security system for their devices. Otherwise, many people who walk with pacemakers and other similar devices become potentially vulnerable to intruders. And here we are not talking about the theft of a couple or two thousand dollars from the account, but about the health and even human life.

Dvice