Insulin pump hack delivers fatal dosage over the air

[FarCenter]

In a hack fitting of a James Bond movie, a security researcher has devised an attack that hijacks nearby insulin pumps so he can surreptitiously deliver fatal doses to diabetic patients who rely on them.

The attack on wireless insulin pumps, made by medical devices giant Medtronic, was demonstrated Tuesday at theHacker Halted conference in Miami. It was delivered by McAfee's Barnaby Jack, the same researcher who last year showed how take control of two widely used models of automatic teller machines so he could to cause them to spit out a steady stream of dollar bills.

Jack's latest hack works on most recent Medtronic insulin pumps, because they contain tiny radio transmitters that allow patients and doctors to adjust their functions. It builds on research presented earlier this year that allowed the wireless commandeering of the devices when an attacker was within a few feet of the patient, and knew the serial number of his pump. Software and a special antenna designed by Jack allows him to locate and seize control of any device within 300 feet, even when he doesn't know the serial number.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/27/fatal_insulin_pump_attack/

[TexasProgresive]

1. tiny radio transmitters????

How about tiny radio receivers or even transceivers. No way you could talk to a device that only has a transmitter-it's like the person who does all the talking but never listens.

[FarCenter]

2. Technically this would be a transceiver and the radio link is two-way

[IDemo]

3. Utterly insane that such devices are in any way vulnerable

I'll continue to rely on the old fashioned technology:

[TexasProgresive]

4. All wireless devices are vunerable to attack. n/t

[IDemo]

5. Point being - maybe they shouldn't be wireless

And they weren't when first invented. Whatever convenience is offered by remote control isn't worth the risks IMO.

My doctor stopped trying to convince me to go with a pump when it became obvious I was maintaining just as good control with several injections daily (at a tiny fraction of the cost).