Prototype medical device firewall created
U.S. researchers say a prototype firewall can keep hackers from interfering with wireless medical devices such as pacemakers and insulin-delivery systems.
A team of scientists from Purdue and Princeton universities had previously demonstrated how medical devices could be hacked, potentially leading to catastrophic consequences.
"You could imagine all sorts of scary possibilities," Anand Raghunathan, a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering, said. "What motivated us to work on this problem was the ease with which we were able to break into wireless medical systems." The potentially vulnerable devices include pacemakers and continuous glucose monitoring and insulin delivery systems for patients with diabetes, now in use by hundreds of thousands of people, a Purdue release said Thursday.
