Medical Devices Could Be Lethal in Hands of Hackers

It is embarrassingly easy to hack medical devices, experts warn, creating a new security threat that could have life-or-death consequences. Among the many devices vulnerable to hackers are drug infusion pumps, which could be jimmied to deliver a lethal dose, anesthesia machines and Pacemakers. Many medical devices are produced by legacy companies that are new to designing software...

The good news, researchers say, is that most hackers aren’t looking to disable a pacemaker or zap a CT patient with a huge dose of radiation. Typically, they just want an entry point into a hospital’s system to steal valuable healthcare records to sell on the dark Web.Still, it’s entirely without the power of hackers to “brick” a needed medical device or shut down a hospital network, preventing doctors and nurses from providing care. The risk is serious enough that former vice president Dick Cheney had his Pacemaker disabled in 2013.

The danger of medical device hacks has caught the attention of Capitol Hill. Earlier this month, Sen. Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerDems urge Senate to back Obama Zika request Dems push Obama to back female UN leader Fake NYT article shows Warren endorsing Sanders MORE (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the country’s five largest medical device makers expressing “serious concerns that the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices are putting the health and safety of patients at risk.”...