Why I’m Hacked Off About Pacemaker Hacking

Cybersecurity forced to counter hacking threat on 465,000 recalled pacemakers. What does anyone get out of doing this to other people?

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Why I’m Hacked Off About Pacemaker Hacking

The FDA recalled more than 465,000 pacemakers they say could be vulnerable to hackers. Why would anyone do this to another person?

I’m sick of hackers. I’m no longer impressed by what they can do. I’m tired of hearing about how someone hacked into a celebrity’s phone and released naked pictures of that celebrity, and I will never be convinced Russian hacking was the only reason Donald Trump became president.

But what set me over the edge when it comes to hacking was reading that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled 465,000 Abbott Laboratories pacemakers this week because of concerns the devices were vulnerable to hackers.

“As medical devices become increasingly interconnected via the Internet, hospital networks, other medical devices and smartphones, there is an increased risk of exploitation of cybersecurity vulnerabilities,” the FDA’s recall read.

I don’t understand why anyone would want to do something like this to another person, even if they can. Does it impress their friends when they say they hacked into an old man’s pacemaker and messed with his heartbeat? If the pacemaker wearer dies or suffers a life-threatening injury as a result of the hacking, shouldn’t the hacker bear some legal responsibility — assuming someone can find him or her?

If someone is at a point in his or her life where a pacemaker is necessary for that person to enjoy some semblance of a normal life, do they really need to be worried that their radio-controlled devices may soon be hacked and their heart could literally skip a beat or something worse?

In 2012, a former hacker named Barnaby Jack proved he could reverse engineer a pacemaker, forcing it to release multiple 830-volt shocks, according to Engadget. A year later, the FDA warned that pacemakers could be connected to networks vulnerable to hacking.

As part of the recall, Abbott released a firmware update to its pacemakers that the company says “adds additional security protections designed to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to patients’ pacemakers.”

I’m to the point where I feel the same way about hackers as I do about parody news websites. Clearly, the hackers and the writers for these parody sites are good at what they do and can do things I can’t do, but what is gained by doing it?

Wouldn’t hackers be better served putting their programming abilities to good use, maybe helping a health care research company find a cure for heart disease, for example? I know hackers aren’t going anywhere and will only become more dangerous. I just wonder why they feel that’s their calling in life when there are so many other things they can do with their talents.

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