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FDA Issues Recall of 465,000 St. Jude Pacemakers To Patch Security Holes (zdnet.com)
In what may be a first, patients with heart conditions that are using particular pacemaker brands will have to visit their doctors for firmware updates to keep their embedded devices safe from tampering. From a report: It seems such an odd concept at first, but with many kinds of pacemakers now "smarter," with connections to mobile devices and diagnostic systems, the avenue has been carved for these medical devices to potentially be tampered with, should a threat actor choose. In particular, Abbott's pacemakers, formerly of St. Jude Medical, have been "recalled" by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a voluntary basis. The devices must be given a firmware update to protect them against a set of critical vulnerabilities, first reported by MedSec, which could drain pacemaker battery life, allow attackers to change programmed settings, or even change the beats and rhythm of the device. On Tuesday, the FDA issued a security advisory, warning that the pacemakers must be recalled -- and as they are embedded within the chests of their users, this requires a home visit or trip to the hospital to have the software patch applied.
while their device is rebooting?
For the last five years!
Of course, this could be circumvented by the (surgical) removal of such a device, which could itself have been the plot point of a different kind of story.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
This is like something from the original Robocop movie.
A similar kind of messed-up.
"and remember... we care!"
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
I'd seriously doubt it were more complex than a PIC microcontroller.
Is there a punchline you forgot to add, or am I just missing the sarcasm?
With all the shitty remakes of films recently, I can't believe they haven't done one for Logans Run.
Having seen how studios treat awesome classics of late when they try to crucif^M remake them?
You can shut your damn mouth now and not give the studios any more ideas. :/
Regards,
Someone who has also had more than quite enough of the whole "gritty reboot" treatment.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I think mine runs on ARGGGHHHHH....... ARGHHHHHH....... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
What's not to believe?
Breakfast served all day!
Coroner's Note: He appears to have had his pacemaker beat changed and his heart wasn't funky enough to take it.
Is this the new buzzword term of the week? What the hell is a Threat Actor? Tom Cruise on a bad hair day?
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
You know, if you'd even think about launching a denial-of-service attack on a pacemaker, you're kind of an asshole, as well as a homicidal maniac!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
This is what happens when you try to save a few cents on the bill of materials and don't include a 3g radio for remote administration. That way you can just push out updates when security defects are found. Plus you could collect experience data in order to improve future products. (Apologies to the humor impaired)
Wife has difibulator/ pacemaker. To do any programming you have a antenna placed over device to interrogate it. Any further then a few inches and you loose signal. Yes, anything is possible but clearly unless someone jumps you and proceeds to hack your device. I think most people are pretty safe. Also the Saint Jude devices like my wife’s cannot be reprogrammed over remote connection. Only recover events and errors.
Not only that, you can also make sure your customers pay their bills!
If you have a weak, defective heart that cannot maintain its own rhythm and subsequently allow a doctor to implant a hackable pacemaker into your chest, and then allow someone to get near enough to hack it, well my friend, it's time for you to go. Good day, sir.
It is a problem that with the US medical system, the patient has no choice of treatment except a Hobson's choice. The doctors have far too much power. Even if you said you would want a device not running any software, a surgeon or insurance company would never let the patient decide.
The internet of dead things.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
But if you do brick it, for the RMA, do you send the whole human back with the pacemaker, or do you extract the pacemaker so you can save on shipping?
This is what happens when you try to save a few cents on the bill of materials and don't include a 3g radio for remote administration.
I hope you are joking.
A) A 3g radio would take a LOT of power compared to the rest of the unit.
B) That would be one hell of a security hole! Cell networks are NOT secure. Baseband modems are NOT secure. A DoS attack alone could drain the battery in minutes!
This is on par with tying a rope around your neck and attaching the other side to your car seat so that you don't get whiplash. It does solve the whiplash problem but you're still retarded for doing it.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
You know, it occurs to me that the entire plot of Logan's Run (caution.... spoilers follow)....
Really?! Spoilers on the internet already?! It was just release to theaters two score and one year ago!
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
when re-flashing a pacemaker, always be sure to mount a scratch monkey
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
It's definitely a joke. And even funnier, because of using cellular data operating in the microwave band - which people with pacemakers are already avoiding (at this close of a range, at least).
Protip: read right to the end before replying.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
When software runs a device that you literally depend on to live you have a right to it's source code.
If you are going to stand on principle, why not go for "When you need a device to live, you have a right to the device"? Having access to the source code is mostly meaningless, and far less consequential than having access to the actual device.
Hey, I've been chewed out before just for saying stuff online about Star Wars a New Hope. My point was to offer a disclaimer in the hopes of avoiding that.
I can't win.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I can't win.
Welcome to the internet.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Undoing moderation.
Do you really think the doctor is going to know whether the device can be hacked? They all have some sort of communication protocol. My ICD is a older model. I have been able to communicate with it at distances up to ten feet. With a little antenna tweaking I hope to get the distance up to ten meters, then more... They are ALL designed for remote communications. All I am doing is changing the definition of the word 'remote'.
That's BS. If you don't want a pacemaker then it is your decision not to get one.
Exactly as I said, it's a Hobson's choice.
However, he was still able to get down. I'd dare say he couldn't help himself. HNNNGGGGG!!!
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
In what way do the doctors have too much power? They've got more knowledge and expertise than the rest of us, so they typically offer what treatments they think good, and the patient decides how to proceed among available options. You seem to think the options too limited, and seem to blame the doctors for not keeping obsolescent devices around.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes