35 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
35 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
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# Crackers capable of causing pacemaker deaths
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[This article][0] demonstrates why medical devices must contain free software:
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crackers are able to, with this particular type of pacemaker, exploit the device
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to trigger a fatal electric shock to its host from as far as 30 feet away (the
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article also mentions rewriting the firmware, which could of course be used to
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schedule a deadly shock at a predetermined time). These issues would not exist
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with free software, as the user and the community would be able to study the
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source code and fix any defects (or hire someone who can) before placing it in
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their bodies.
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[0]: http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/319508,hacked-terminals-capable-of-causing-pacemaker-mass-murder.aspx
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(Note that this article mistakenly uses the term "hacker" when they really
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mean "cracker".)
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The aforementioned article is an excellent supplement to [a discussion on free
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software in pacemakers][1]. In particular, I had pointed out within this
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discussion [a talk by Karen Sandler of the GNOME Foundation regarding this
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issue][2] at OSCON 2011, in which she mentions potential issues of proprietary
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software in pacemakers and the difficulty she faced in attempting to get the
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source code for one that she was considering for herself.
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The discussion on HackerNews also yielded [an article by the SFLC][3] detailing
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this issue.
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(Please do not use YouTube's proprietary video player to view the mentioned
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YouTube video.)
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[1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3959547
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[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZGpES-St8
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[3]: https://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2010/jul/21/software-defects-cardiac-medical-devices-are-life-/
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