Johnson & Johnson Discloses That Its Insulin Pump Is Hackable (thestack.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Stack: Johnson and Johnson has revealed that its JJ Animas OneTouch Ping insulin pump is vulnerable to hackers, who could potentially force the device to overdose diabetic patients -- however, it declares that the risk of this happening is very low. Unnamed executives from the American multinational medical manufacturer said that they were taking the unprecedented step of warning customers about the vulnerability, particularly in light of recent controversies regarding attack vectors in cardiac equipment. In a letter to doctors and 114,000 patients, sent on Monday, the company wrote: "The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping system is extremely low... It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the internet or to any external network." Even though the company's own technicians were able to hack the pump within a distance of 25 feet, Johnson and Johnson's chief medical officer Brian Levy observed that the hack would be extremely difficult to pull off, and said "We believe the OneTouch Ping system is safe and reliable. We urge patients to stay on the product."

Comments

The gauntlet has been thrown

[Anonymous Coward]

Now people will hack into these just to prove they can. How many have to die because of J&J being cheap and not fixing them?

Re:The gauntlet has been thrown

[Mr D from 63]

Pretty much anything is hackable if you can get your hands on it. Considering the proximty and time required for a successful hack, the hacker would stand a high risk of being caught and charged with murder or attempted murder. So if one is smart enough to do it they're probably smart enough to not even try.