Luckily it was the right side hacking and not the other side to see if in fact a pacemaker could be hacked.  This occurred this weekend in Las Vegas as the Defcon conference.  Similar wireless control mechanisms are used for administering drugs as well as there are other medical devices out there.  One that really scares me is the brain implant, could one imagine if that could be hacked?  image

This sounds like a lot of science fiction, but it not.  The hackers also had a few other tricks up their sleeves, and on one event, a judge prohibited the presentation, again these are the good folks doing the hacking, with MIT Students forced to Cancel the Presentation on Transit Fare Payment System hack.  So no secrets on riding the mass transit system in Boston either.  BD  

The Defcon conference is the wild and woolly version of Black Hat for the unwashed masses of hackers. It always has its share of unusual hacks. William H. Maisel, a doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and Harvard Medical School, granted Fu access for the project. Fu received an old pacemaker as the doctor installed a new one in a patient.

Translation: you can kill the patient. Fu said that he didn’t try the attack on other brands of pacemakers because he just needed to prove the academic point. Halperin said, “This is something that academics can do now. We have to do something before the ability to mount attacks becomes easier.”

Defcon: Excuse me while I turn off your pacemaker » VentureBeat

Hat Tip:  Engadget

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