Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Scientist ‘Infected’ Himself with Computer Virus, Stands on Principle
Thursday, May 27, 2010 by Matt Hymel
A British scientist has lay claim to a new title: the first
human to be infected with a computer virus. Although the title
sounds shocking, it is actually a bit misleading.
Dr. Mark Gasson, a cybernetics expert at the University of
Reading, utilizes radio-frequency identification (RFID)
chips which can be used "to access certain parts of the University
of Reading laboratory, as well as operate personal cell phones."
These chips are implanted into his arm and serve much the same as
an internal swipe-card. With help from colleagues, Gasson created a
virus for the chip and placed it in his arm. He then used the chip
-- accessing the University computer labs and his own cell phone --
and found that when the lab's computer read the code, the virus was
picked up and replicated.
Like any computer virus, any piece of technology with access to
the database (or anyone who swipes in to the lab with an RFID chip)
would also receive the virus, proving that viruses "can be
transferred wirelessly from implant devices to the computers they
communicate with."
Although Dr. Gasson's example is benign, a malicious virus can
be made to infect heart pacemakers, intestinal camera pills, or
cochlear implants. As Discovery.com
points out, you have more reason to "worry about bed bugs than
computer bugs," as the 'computers under our skin' technology has
not yet achieved widespread use.
Dr. Gasson admits that the test is a "proof of principle,
but thinks it has important implications for the future." He points
out that the future holds great possibility in human-computer
infusion, but cautions that every technology has "security problems
and computer viruses."
The cybernetics expert has drawn plenty of criticism for his most recent
findings. A security vendor named Sophos blasted experiment
findings and presentation of data. Graham Cluley, senior technology
consultant at Sophos, calls out the scientist for his lack of
responsibility in "presenting the research instead of hyping up
threats to get headlines." He goes on to explain that "any virus
code on the RFID chip would be utterly incapable of running unless
a serious security hole existed in the external device reading
it."
As if computer viruses weren't already a hassle, we may have
more trouble coming our way as these technologies continue to
develop. Let's hope security experts step up their programming game
for the future.
Until Next Time -
Matthew Hymel
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester
IT Support & Consulting
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