Dr. Mark Gasson, a senior researcher at the University of Reading, has become the first human to be ‘infected’ with a computer virus. Gasson embedded himself with an RFID tag, similar to those that are used to track pets, and willingly loaded it with malware. The experiment was meant to prove that computerized implants carry dangers as well as benefits.

Medical implants, such as pacemakers, are increasingly likely to be able to communicate with computers and machines outside the body. This makes it easier for doctors to monitor patients, but Gasson is concerned that it also leaves life-sustaining devices vulnerable to hackers and viruses.

The research has brought plenty of media attention to Gasson and the university, but not all of it is positive. Graham Cluly, a senior consultant at security firm Sophos, called the research “the very worst kind of scaremongering.” While Cluly has acknowledged in a blog post that it is technically possible for a medical implant or RFID tag to be infected with malicious code, he has also said that it is highly unlikely and very difficult to accomplish. He points out that RFID tags normally have code read from them, not executed on them, so for such an attack to be effective, the device reading the tag’s information would need to have a “serious security hole.”

Continue reading Scientist Installs Virus-Infected RFID in His Body

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Scientist Installs Virus-Infected RFID in His Body originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 26 May 2010 15:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook users still haven’t mastered the whole “privacy thing” when it comes to sharing personal information with others, a study from security firm Sophos finds.

Originally posted at Webware

Well done to Sophos, an anti-virus company (to simplify things a bit). Apparently there’s a new round of malware floating around out there that can infect your Mac. Observe!

The nasty in question, OSX/Tored-Fam, is a worm. It will burn your house down if given the chance.

So now you have a few choices, Mac users: you can steer clear of Flash-based porn sites, avoiding this whole nonsense altogether; you can buy whatver Sophos is selling; or you can smarten up and not click on OK every time something says, “Oh, hey you need to download this or we’re steal your puppy.”

No one will steal your puppy.