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First Internet-Connected Pacemaker Goes Live
The Register is reporting that a New York woman has become the first person to have her pacemaker wirelessly connected to the internet for full-time monitoring. "The device contains a radio transmitter which connects to receiving equipment in New Yorker Carol Kasyjanski's home, using a very low-power signal around 400MHz, to report on the condition of her heart. Any problems are instantly reported to the doctor, and regular checkups can be done by remotely interrogating the home-based equipment — the pacemaker itself doesn't have an IP address, fun as that would be."
I wonder what a DDoS would do to it ...
Otherwise that lady is going to be in for quite the surprise when the pacemaker starts looking at youporn.
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Does it run Linux?
Now that Slashdot knows about it, it's only a matter of time before someone starts trying to hack these things. Countdown: Someone here installs Linux and runs a NES emulator on his own pacemaker in 3....2....
ping pacemaker
4 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 3609ms
meaning she is gone...
Why not just tap it into Twitter and utilize an existing system that's stable, easily accessible, and highly availabile? Not to mention you could keep your friends in the loop!
Capitalism: When it uses the carrot, it's called democracy. When it uses the stick, it's called fascism.
...then the next step is to see what a little overclocking would do to it...
Recipient of said device breathes a sigh of relief when he discovers his heart won't be slashdotted.
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
.... Aaargghh
Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious