Should the FDA Assess Medical Device Defenses Against Hackers?

gManZboy writes "The vulnerability of wireless medical devices to hacking has now attracted attention in Washington. Although there has not yet been a high-profile case of such an attack, a proposal has surfaced that the Food and Drug Administration or another federal agency assess the security of medical devices before they're sold. A Department of Veterans Affairs study showed that between January 2009 and spring 2011, there were 173 incidents of medical devices being infected with malware. The VA has taken the threat seriously enough to use virtual local area networks to isolate some 50,000 devices. Recently, researchers from Purdue and Princeton Universities announced that they had built a prototype firewall known as MedMon to protect wireless medical devices from outside interference."

Comments

Re:No

[t4ng*]

Really? How about a hacker selling malware to the highest bidder that could be used to assassinate someone with a medical implant, or while they are recovering in the hospital after surgery? That's just two I can think of off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more.

Re:Charged with murder.

[Anonymous Coward]

I would rather they try to patch the security holes *before* we start charging people with attempted murder and murder, personally.

Re:Yes

[negRo_slim]

Anyone caught intentionally cracking anything should get, at a minimum, 20 years of hard labor. Intentionally trying to harm or kill someone attached to a medical device should be a hanging sentence. Full stop.

Glad to see you've fallen in love with the DMCA friend! Anything that could lead to crime should be a crime aye? Never mind how close that comes to dangerously impeding our legitimate rights to freedom of speech including research that includes circumvention of various controls.