Hacking a Heart Monitor Too Easy, Says Study

Researchers urge better testing of new technology, showing how to hack medical devices.


(pcworld) -- It didn't take much to hack into the heart monitoring device and get it to administer a 137-volt shock: an oscilloscope, a PC, a wireless radio with a couple of antennas and some free software.

With those tools, a group of university researchers were able to gain access to what is known as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), reading sensitive patient information, disrupting its operation and even programming it to repeatedly administer strong electric shocks. full story