I am not trying to startle but rather inform. It seems that the technology applied in medical devices such as pace makers and automatic drug releasing implants for human use, are threatened by computer viruses.
The vulnerability of human medical implant devices are caused by a few factors. Typically, these devices don’t have inter-accessibility to the wider realm of the web and the platforms that we are all networked on. But things seem to be changing thanks to devices, R&D, and what may be direct or indirect marketing by some large companies. The fantastic abilities of devices such as the iPhone and software for it are merging these two arenas of main stream technology and medicine. This hazard has been flagged by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJOM, 2010; 362:1164 – 1166) Dr. William Maisel and Tadayoshi Kohno write; “that the complex and sophisticated features of medical devices have created a susceptibility to security breaches that could compromise the performance of such devices and the safety and privacy of patients.” The use of the iPad and its application in the medical management software realm has spread as if it were destined to be in the hands of doctors all along. Simply sated – threats are a concern.
