Implanted Devices Are the Future of Medicine, but They’re Vulnerable to Hackers

Electronic medical implants can come with serious security risks

The collision of technology and medicine has resulted in the future that early science fiction writers dreamed of: One where electronic medical devices are implanted into the body, making people truly bionic.

At Future Human, we’ve written a lot about these devices and the ways they can revolutionize medical treatment. In October, staff writer and resident biotech expert Emily Mullin wrote about a tiny device, snaked through the jugular vein into the brain, that can read the thoughts of paralyzed people, allowing them to type. Earlier this year, she wrote about a scientist who got a deep brain stimulation device implanted into his brain to help him control his alcoholism as well as a tiny implant that could wake people from comas. A man who got a bionic eye last year was able to see his birthday candles for the first time.

Most of the electronic devices we’re now fusing with the human body are wired for connectivity: The device that reads the brains of paralyzed people, for example, wirelessly transmits data from inside the body to a smartphone app, allowing them to type out a text. While these open channels allow data from the body to be used for real-time medical treatment and monitoring, they also leave the devices vulnerable to hackers.