Scientist Infects Self With Computer Virus 393
superapecommando writes "A British scientist claims to have become the first human to be infected by a computer virus, in an experiment he says has important implications for the future of implantable technology. Dr Mark Gasson from the University of Reading infected a computer chip with the virus, then implanted it in his hand and transmitted the virus to a PC to prove that malware can move between human and computer."
Re:epic fail (Score:5, Informative)
Do you mean Kevin Warwick [wikipedia.org]? Funnily enough he's also from the University of Reading.
Re:stupid (Score:5, Informative)
It's the University of Reading. So, yes.
This dude works directly under Captain Cyborg himself.
attention whore (Score:2, Informative)
Someone obviously needed to get into the press desperately again.
Re:stupid (Score:2, Informative)
True, it is important to know how the communication between the chip and the PC was made. I'm guessing here, but I think my dad's pacemaker isn't that easily accessable... If it is, or in the future will be, the communication port should -logically- be protected. But for now, I think my dad should fear EMFs more.
Pacemakers have already been hacked [informationweek.com] granted its really unlikely your dad will be a target but that is getting into the terrain of security through obscurity
Re:stupid (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Worded poorly, and not news (Score:3, Informative)
Re:stupid (Score:3, Informative)
I have a programable biomedical device, a Medtronics PrimeAdvanced Neurostimulator and it can be accessed remotely and "hacked" too.
But here is the reality of accessing it or a programable pacemaker, you have to be within inches of the device to get a sync signal. For me, my neurostim is in my left chest, to get it to sync I have to get the PDA or PDA's lead within a half inch of my skin, a thick sweater will block it and make the sync turn into a trial and error shuffle trying to get it in the right spot. The sync is slow, maybe 5-15 seconds for something simple and 15-30 for a upload of new rules to it.
This story is just another PR load, the Register has been dogging on another guy at the same school for over a decade about the BS he spews out. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/26/captain_cyborg_cyberfud/ [theregister.co.uk]
You didn't read the article you posted - "In publishing the findings, the researchers are not suggesting that heart patients face significant imminent risk from hackers. They say in a statement published on the research group's Web site, secure-medicine.org, that their findings should not deter patients from accepting these devices if deemed appropriate by a physician."
"While all implanted devices must use wireless telemetry for programming -- typically in very close range (several inches to several feet) -- the risk of any deliberate, malicious, or unauthorized manipulation of a device is extremely low," Medtronic said. "In fact, to our knowledge there has not been a single reported incident of such an event in more than 30 years of device telemetry use, which includes millions of implants worldwide."
Here the Medtronic guy is full of it, you can't get a sync at several feet
Re:No, not really (Score:3, Informative)
While he may not have called himself a captain, I'm pretty sure he called himself a cyborg and has been lecturing about the ethics and rights in relation to cyborgs.
I'm also pretty sure that he's been calling himself a cyborg long before that chip was connected to anything. The phase one of his experiment literally involved nothing more than an RFID chip under the skin, and that didn't stop him from presenting himself as becoming a cyborg and other such attention whoring. The only things that he could control with it were devices which basically just sensed the proximity of the chip itself, not any particular input from his brain.
It would be no less that four effing years before someone actually designed a neural interface to implant him with. Someone _else_ designed it for him, yes. (Incidentally, the muppet who is the star of today's story.)
But it didn't stop him from calling it "Project Cyborg", and presenting himself as becoming a cyborg, and talking about the rights of cyborgs, for four solid years of having no more merit than having injected a RFID chip under his skin.
So, yes, I think my original assessment was actually correct. Warwick was indeed presenting himself as a cyborg at a point where he only had an RFID chip under the skin, and not connected to any nerve. And if you're going to berate me for it, please be sure that you have _your_ facts right first.
And, yes, "Captain Cyborg" was a pithy nickname for him. I fear not pithy enough for such a monumental media troll, but I guess it will have to do.
PS: and frankly, if we're talking cyborgs and neural connections, the blind folks which got a CCD camera chip implanted and actually started seeing, _still_ have a much better claim than Warwick.