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Eduard Marin and Dave Singelée, researchers with KU Leuven University, Belgium, began examining the pacemakers under black box testing conditions in which they had no prior knowledge or special access to the devices, and used commercial off-the-shelf equipment to break the proprietary communications protocols.
From the position of blind attackers the pair managed to hack pacemakers from up to five metres away gaining the ability to deliver fatal shocks and turn off life-saving treatment.
The wireless attacks could also breach patient privacy, reading device information disclosing location history, treatments, and current state of health.
[...] "Using this black-box approach we just listened to the wireless communication channel and reverse-engineered the proprietary communication protocol. And once we knew all the zeros and ones in the message and their meaning, we could impersonate genuine readers and perform replay attacks etcetera."
(Score: 3, Informative) by Dunbal on Saturday December 03 2016, @03:49PM
Of course for most of these you have to be in physical contact with the patient. The "wireless" attack has a range of 2-5 meters, but very few defibrillators/pacemakers have that feature turned on. The others you need to be in skin contact with the person. Well if you can get that close, a knife could be much simpler.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 03 2016, @04:12PM
Notably, Dick "Darth Vader" Cheney had high-profile issues [sophos.com] with potential threats to his pacemaker.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Saturday December 03 2016, @05:48PM
The wireless is disabled by default. You have to enable it. This is per my experience as a physician and per TFA. So the Cheney story was probably just attention-seeking which is all well and good because secure devices are not a bad idea, but not exactly the truth either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 04 2016, @01:48AM
Wow, a physician.
Hey listen, doc. I got this weird itch...
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday December 04 2016, @01:58AM
If it's disabled by default how do you enable it? Get the pulse rate up to 120, down to 90, up to 100, within 5 minutes?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday December 04 2016, @08:05AM
You have to hit it with a defibrillator to flip the switch.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday December 04 2016, @06:15AM
Seems like something like an induction-coil coupler would be appropriate, so one would have to have the communication coil right over the skin under which the other coil resides.
If one has intent to do another in, its probably gonna happen anyway... whether it be done by clever technical means, chemical means, or physical means.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 5, Informative) by TheRaven on Saturday December 03 2016, @06:53PM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Saturday December 03 2016, @11:14PM
Five fingered death punch?
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!