Scientist says he's infected with a computer virus

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Scientist says he's infected with a computer virus

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A scientist at the University of Reading says he's become the first

person in the world to be infected by a computer virus.

Dr Mark Gasson, from the School of Systems Engineering, contaminated a

computer chip which was then implanted in his hand. He says it's no

gimmick, but could have huge implications for health devices such as

heart pacemakers and cochlear implants.

" Our research shows that implantable technology has developed to the

point where implants are capable of communicating, storing and

manipulating data, " he said.

" They are essentially mini computers. This means that, like mainstream

computers, they can be infected by viruses and the technology will need

to keep pace with this so that implants, including medical devices, can

be safely used in the future. "

A high-end Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip was implanted into

Gasson's left hand last year, giving him secure access to his University

building and his mobile phone.

Once infected, the chip corrupted the main system used to communicate

with it.

" I believe it is necessary to acknowledge that our next evolutionary

step may well mean that we all become part machine as we look to enhance

ourselves, " says Gasson.

" Indeed, we may find that there are significant social pressures to have

implantable technologies, either because it becomes as much of a social

norm as say mobile phones, or because we'll be disadvantaged if we do

not. However we must be mindful of the new threats this step brings. "

********** notes: I had hopes the machines in the hospital didn't

run on microsoft products. As it is, the new data system, EPIC, doctors

are not thrilled with. They say at times they can not access their

patients charts, sometimes the patients can not be found, it slows them

down, and sometimes the system is just not available. There is a

learning curve some of the old school doctors object to.

Watching over the nurses shoulder while she reviewed old info, corrected

some info and entered new info, it looked like a good system, but all

the " what if " scenarios made me skeptical. Having worked at Amazon and

experiencing the glitches and outages in an organization with expertise

in computing, I can not imagine the horror in an organization where

computing is low on the list.

Wife has a wristband with a barcode. They scan it before administrating

medication and other procedures.