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posted by janrinok on Wednesday October 05 2016, @01:08PM   Printer-friendly

Johnson & Johnson has issued a security warning about one of its products:

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday issued a warning about a possible cybersecurity issue with its Animas OneTouch Ping Insulin Infusion Pump. The problem was first reported by Reuters.

Computer security firm Rapid 7 discovered that it might be possible to take control of the pump via its an unencrypted radio frequency communication system that allows it to send commands and information via a wireless remote control. The company alerted Johnson & Johnson, which issued the warning. Getting too high or too low a dose of insulin could severely sicken or even kill. There have been no instances of the pumps being hacked, Johnson & Johnson said.


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  • (Score: 2) by MrGuy on Wednesday October 05 2016, @02:28PM

    by MrGuy (1007) on Wednesday October 05 2016, @02:28PM (#410610)

    There have been no instances of the pumps being hacked, Johnson & Johnson said.

    How would they know that? It might be accurate to say that there are no KNOWN instances of hacking. But it would, I imagine, be difficult-to-impossible to PROVE that none has ever been hacked. Have they gone back and looked at every single death by someone using the product, and checked for anomalities? Do the devices log sufficient information to even DETECT such anomalities?

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday October 05 2016, @02:49PM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Wednesday October 05 2016, @02:49PM (#410621) Journal

    "Reported instances" I'd guess.

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  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 05 2016, @04:13PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 05 2016, @04:13PM (#410674) Journal

    I bet the number of deaths from using the product is pretty near zero. And if there are any, they are probably explainable. The pump does keep logs.

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    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday October 05 2016, @07:04PM

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 05 2016, @07:04PM (#410770) Journal

      That's probably not a good bet. People using an insulin pump are not going to be the longest lived in their age group.

      So unless the pump has just been released there's a quite good chance that some users have died even if the death had nothing to do with the pump. Proving it had nothing to do with the pump would probably be impossible. OTOH, if it was caused by the pump, it might well be equally impossible. Someone going into shock while driving on a freeway is not going to leave much evidence.

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