DIY microchippers make implants a hobby

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"We've shown that we can actually transmit a computer virus to the chip and use that to infect the security access database in our laboratory."

It could also work the other way around, with a virus in a data system being transmitted to the wearer of an implant.

Gasson says this raises serious issues, especially with regard to implantable medical devices on which peoples' lives may depend.

clipped from tvnz.co.nz Graafstra implanted himself with two radio-frequency identification tags (RFIDs), similar to the sort of chips used in cats and dogs, five years ago. His family doctor used a pet injector to insert the second one in his right hand later that year. The chips help him do things like open the door to his home, log onto his computer and start his motorbike. "I have the skill to be able to utilise this technology in my daily life," he says. "All I've done is move the RFID tag from my wallet, or my pants pocket, to a skin pocket." Several Australians are among those to have embraced the technology, he says. Gasson, also in Australia for the conference, had an RFID-based implant put in his hand about a year ago, originally for access to his UK-based lab and mobile phone. Later, as an experiment, he deliberately infected the chip with a virus and found he was able to pass the infection on to the laboratory's security system.

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Medical News | Health News - U.S. Food and Drug Administration Reveals Radio Frequency Identification Devices Can Cause Malfunctions in Pacemakers, Cardioverter-Defibrillators

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• Medical News | Health News - U.S. Food and Drug Administration Reveals Radio Frequency Identification Devices Can Cause Malfunctions in Pacemakers, Cardioverter-Defibrillators

  "WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in collaboration with major implantable pacemaker and ICD manufacturers, demonstrated the effects of emissions from radio frequency identification (RFID) readers on common implantable cardiac devices. According to research published in the January edition of the HeartRhythm Journal, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the observed effects may cause increasing complications as RFID use expands in the medical device field. Read full text of study » The study, which looked at the electromagnetic interference susceptibility of 15 pacemakers and 15 ICDs caused by exposure to 13 RFID readers, concluded that low frequency RFID readers may pose the greatest risk to pacemakers and ICDs. While modern pacemakers and ICDs use filters to minimize susceptibility to higher-frequency signals, there is limited filtering of low frequency signals due to the design constraints of both pacemakers and ICDs."

  tags: RFID, Chip, Mark, Radio, Frequency, ID, FDA, US, Pacemakers, cardiac, card, news

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