An independent security researcher, found that drug infusion pumps made by medical device company Hospira (HSP) can be remotely tampered with. A hacker can tap into the pumps and change the amount of medication they've been set to dispense.
The pumps are designed to take human error out of the drug dispensing equation. That's a potentially life-saving task: A Journal of Patient Safety study from 2013 found that medical errors kill between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year -- 35% of which are due to incorrect dispensing of medications.
Many Hospira pumps contain barcode readers that prevent hospital staff from dispensing incorrect medication. And they have alarm systems set to notify staff if they set the dosage levels too high.
We think it's better to just check the machinery while getting your sick relative in hospital, or even get those gizmos that can bar radio waves and internet data.(On a Lighter note)
Hospira maintained that none of its devices installed in hospitals have been hacked, and it has worked with its customers about how to address the vulnerabilities. The company noted that hacking a pump would require an attacker to break through the hospital's own security systems before hacking into the pump.
