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| Time | Text |
|---|---|
| A hacker has died this week, just days before he was set to reveal how an ordinary pacemaker could be compromised to kill a man. | |
| Security researcher Barnaby Jack died Thursday and the details surrounding his death have yet to be released. | |
| Jack was scheduled to detail his most recent achievement in a Black Hat talk called Implantable Medical Devices, Hacking Humans. | |
| Jack said he was intrigued by the wireless communication of these very critical life devices, and he wanted to see if they communicated securely, or if a hacker could somehow control them remotely. | |
| After six months of research, Jack had figured out how to hack a device remotely, sending a high voltage shock from up to 50 feet away. | |
| At a previous Black Hat Talk in 2012, Jack detailed how he was able to hack into an insulin pump and order the machine to deliver a lethal dose to patients, and in turn, kill them. | |
| Jack's death comes just over a month after the FDA warned that implanted medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators are often connected to networks that are vulnerable to cyberattacks that could shut down and manipulate the machinery. | |
| The FDA sent a report to hospitals that identified 300 medical devices at risk of crippling cyber attacks. | |
| Some of these devices can even be remotely accessed through the internet. | |
| Black Hat is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Las Vegas with a presentation by NSA Chief General Keith Alexander. | |
| It will be immediately followed by the DEFCON Hacker Conference where researchers will demonstrate various high-profile hacks, including how modern cars can be compromised. |
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