Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/22/lethal-shocks-r-us.html
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Reminds me:
Shields down please.
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This seems right up Cheney’s alley. He knows there is a life threatening vulnerability in a piece of technology so what does he do? Makes sure it doesn’t affect him and calls it a day.
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Guessing it’s the same software as those remote control dildos.
So, good news for the dildo hackers!
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If the device manufacturer knew of these vulnerabilities, and those vulnerabilities are exploited to cause serious injury or death to a patient with one of these devices implanted in their chest, could the company be charged criminally with some crime (being an accessory to murder perhaps?) Could that pierce the corporate veil and leave the senior management vulnerable to being charged?
They almost certainly would face a civil lawsuit from the next-of-kin of the deceased, and I suspect they’d probably lose that suit.
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What I don’t get, is the demonstrated willingness of these medical device-makers to expose themselves to the outrageous liability risk from ignoring this type of thing.
I have a different brand and just looked to see if it has been hacked. And yes, it has.
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Greetings, Factorial! If you’d care to share, what brand do you have? Asking because my FiL has one as well; I’m wondering if he should be concerned.
Aside from getting the software fixed (or walking around with a tinfoil body cast), is there anything the end user can do to protect themselves?
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St Jude. Reading more I see they patched the vulnerabilities in them by issuing a firmware update:
I just had mine installed last August. When I go in the office to have it checked out, they have a “wand”, for lack of a better word, that they touch to my chest to establish a connection but there is also the device in my bedroom that connects wirelessly from a few feet away.
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Remember when the only thing pacemaker wearers had to worry about was microwave ovens? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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