pacemaker

Wireless Pacemaker:  St. Jude Medical

Carol Kasyjanski of New York became the first patient to receive the new pacemaker, which was made by St. Jude Medical Inc. and approved by the FDA in July. The device downloads all its information into a remote monitor in Kasyjanski's home at least once a day and the monitor automatically assesses the performance of both the pacemaker and the patient’s heart. Then it uploads the information to a central server.

Personal information in the digital realm is always susceptible to malicious activity. Passwords can be stolen from a database, credit card numbers swiped at the point of sale; even the new American passports contain RFID chips which critics claim can be surreptitiously read. Now, even a pacemaker can be hacked from the outside.