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Behold the future: attackers can already get between brain-waves and hospital kit, and it's just going to get worse according to IOActive senior consultant Alejandro Hernández.
Hernández says the ability to steal, manipulate, and replay brain waves used in electroencephalography (EEG) is already emerging, with consumer-grade kit already able to be hacked and the health care industry taking few precautions to properly protect recorded brain waves.
After decades in labs and hospitals, encephalography is steadily being implemented in lightweight consumer headsets and other devices that as yet remain largely experimental or gimmicky.
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Hackers Can Steal Your Brain Waves
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The wages of sin are unreported.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @12:22AM
really is a good idea?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Monday October 19 2015, @12:27AM
It's not paranoia if they're actually out to get you.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @01:52PM
Sorry, but that's wrong. Paranoia and them being out to get you are not mutually exclusive.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Monday October 19 2015, @12:57AM
I see this as more of an indictment of IoT and hospital security.
The new wearable and medical devices that get released simply don't pay attention to security. Hospitals and insurers get breached all the time. Brain data and gadgets may be rudimentary right now, but they will increase in sophistication until they pose serious threats to privacy.
Eventually we will reach a point where medical technology's capabilities are very attractive in the face of security risks. Brain-to-brain communication or browsing the Internet with your brain might not be enough to convince tinfoil hatters, but (hackable?) medical nanobots that repair damage and prevent aging might. That could involve a brain/body implant to act as a controller or hub for nanobots. How do you update the software without facing a security risk... a surgical update?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Francis on Monday October 19 2015, @03:13AM
Indeed. But OTOH, when it comes to brainwaves the technology is still rather primitive and there's not yet much you can do with the information once you've got it. I've got a muse head band that helps monitor my brain during meditation and I used to use a Zeo to monitor what my sleep was like. The information on those is pretty much worthless to anybody other than me. So, I don't much care what the security is like on it.
However, as the technology continues to evolve, it's going to be more and more important that the information be kept secure.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by gumby on Monday October 19 2015, @02:00AM
Are these theives hoarding them?
Is there a black market in brain waves?
Should the government start fighting a war on brainwaves? Perhaps they are already?
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday October 19 2015, @03:04AM
I have no brain waves!
compiling...
(Score: 3, Funny) by Snotnose on Monday October 19 2015, @04:23AM
So, you're voting for HRC then?
/ interesting to see how many times this gets posted
// keeps sending me to the 'Preview' pane when I hit 'Submit'
/// Maybe HRC's mind fark means I need my tin foil hat
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday October 19 2015, @04:21AM
A few years back my ex got an iPhone with a fingerprint scanner. I told her to never use it. Why? If someone hacks her password she can change it. If someone hacks her fingerprint, well....
Fast forward a year or two, my new laptop has a fingerprint scanner. Guess what? Damn thing is so convenient I use it 3-4 times a day. Only times I don't use it is when it doesn't work (damn thing is buggy as hell, about 50% of the time it hangs and I have to enter my password).
I should know better, yet I still use the thing.
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @04:32AM
The first problem is that proprietary software is being used at all. The second problem is that you're willing to sacrifice privacy and security just for some convenience.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Monday October 19 2015, @08:40AM
The second problem is that you're willing to sacrifice privacy and security just for some convenience.
And you've never done that? Ever?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @02:40PM
A connection to RedTube is faster and cheaper...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @04:23PM
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Go ahead and hack my brain waves! Then stand back and be amazed...or horrified! Just remember that you were warned.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday October 20 2015, @01:47AM
and cleaner....
I came. I saw. I forgot why I came.