The news of the death of a 35-year-old hacker, Barnaby Jack (http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/infamous-hacker-barnaby-jack-dies-black-hat-convention-6C10760881), made me reflect on a presentation about the security of medical equipment at the 2013 SINI meeting. Barnaby Jack was a "white hat hacker" meaning that the purpose of his hacks was to demonstrate security risks so that they could be addressed.
According to the new article "Jack had planned to demonstrate his techniques to hack into pacemakers and implanted defibrillators at the Black Hat hackers convention in Las Vegas next Thursday. He told Reuters last week that he could kill a man from 30 feet away by attacking an implanted heart device."
I honestly had not considered security risks associated with medical equipment such as pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, or intravenous pumps. Perhaps the reason is that I do not think like a cyber criminal. However, we as healthcare professionals, need to understand that remote control of computerized medical equipment is possible. We need to support the manufacturing companies that are working to eliminate security risks that may endanger the lives of our patients.
According to the new article "Jack had planned to demonstrate his techniques to hack into pacemakers and implanted defibrillators at the Black Hat hackers convention in Las Vegas next Thursday. He told Reuters last week that he could kill a man from 30 feet away by attacking an implanted heart device."
I honestly had not considered security risks associated with medical equipment such as pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, or intravenous pumps. Perhaps the reason is that I do not think like a cyber criminal. However, we as healthcare professionals, need to understand that remote control of computerized medical equipment is possible. We need to support the manufacturing companies that are working to eliminate security risks that may endanger the lives of our patients.
