medical device : Java Glossary

We are now learning to embed tiny computers inside people’s bodies. They can do things such as:

• Pacemaker to control the rhythm of the heart.
• Defibrillator to restart the heart if the rhythm races.
• Control artificial limbs.
• Stop seizures.
• Cochlear implant to allow hearing when the auditory nerve is damaged.
• Artificial vision.
• Insulin pump.

Security Concerns

• The code that drives these devices, like all computer code, has bugs. It is proprietary. Only the device manufacturer can look for problems, fix them and distribute them. This code should be open source so that anyone could proof read it.
• There is no security. Ordinary electric fields are used to manually control the chip. Potentially some vandal could send a pattern to cause the chip to kill the patient with a massive electric shock to the heart. This danger increase as these chips are attached to the Internet for patient monitoring. Such chips need to have passwords, private keys and encryption to block malicious brats. Happily, this has not yet happened. Manufacturers are waiting until someone is killed before implementing security. That will leave a terrifying window of vulnerability.
• If for any reason a company goes broke, or discontinues a model, it is still installed in all kinds of living people. There is no longer any proprietary expertise on how to control or disable it. We can’t afford proprietary information.