Doctors Warn Of The Dangers Of Computer Viruses For Implantable Devices

Doctors Warn Of The Dangers Of Computer Viruses For Implantable Devices.
Implantable devices, such as pacemakers, defibrillators and cochlear implants, are tasteful unshielded to "infection" with computer viruses, a researcher in England warns. To end up his point, Mark Gasson, a scientist at the University of Reading's School of Systems Engineering, allowed himself to become "Exhibit A".

Gasson said he became the beforehand soul in the world to be infected with a computer virus after he "contaminated" a high-end and old-fashioned wireless frequency identification (RFID) computer chip - the kind often used as a security mark in stores to prevent theft - which he had implanted into his left hand. The point was to enticement attention to the risks involved with the use of increasingly sophisticated implantable medical device technology.

And "Our check in shows that implantable technology has developed to the point where implants are capable of communicating, storing and manipulating data," he said in a university dirt release. "They are essentially mini computers. This means that, be partial to mainstream computers, they can be infected by viruses and the technology will need to attend to pace with this so that implants, including medical devices, can be safely used in the future".