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Researcher Reverse-Engineers Pacemaker Transmitter To Deliver Deadly Shocks

Bismillah writes "Pacemakers seem to be hackable now too, if researcher Barnaby Jack is to be believed. And the consequences of that are deadly. Anonymous assassinations within 30 feet of the pacemaker seem to be possible. From the article: 'In a video demonstration, which Jack declined to release publicly because it may reveal the name of the manufacturer, he issued a series of 830 volt shocks to the pacemaker using a laptop. The pacemakers contained a "secret function" which could be used to activate all pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in a 30 foot -plus vicinity. ... In reverse-engineering the terminals – which communicate with the pacemakers – he discovered no obfuscation efforts and even found usernames and passwords for what appeared to be the manufacturer’s development server. That data could be used to load rogue firmware which could spread between pacemakers with the "potential to commit mass murder."'"

9 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Vulnerability in pacemaker firmware? by DikSeaCup · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shocking!

    1. Re:Vulnerability in pacemaker firmware? by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm shocked, shocked!%N#)NO CARRIER

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    2. Re:Vulnerability in pacemaker firmware? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Remember to disable fsck on startup!

  2. Crank 3 by revelation60 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds like it could be the plot of the new Crank movie!

  3. Re:Isn't it plain and obvious... by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Holy fucking Christ. What else is out there waiting to be compromised and exploited?

    Your sanity?

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  4. Dick Cheney by inode_buddha · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dick Cheney has a pacemaker...

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  5. Solution.... by coinreturn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tin foil vest.

  6. Re:Isn't it plain and obvious... by MarkGriz · · Score: 5, Funny

    utter shit if a fucking pacemaker
    What the mother fuck?
    Are you fucking kidding me?
    end our bullshit and we end up descending into WW3.
    work silently behind our backs to sabotage and/or kill us?
    powerful foreign countries that just might kick our asses
    Holy fucking Christ.

    Ask your doctor if Xanax is right for you

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  7. DNS by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 3, Funny

    Anybody got Dick Cheney's IP address? Just curious; totally unrelated to this story. Honest.