Implanted medical devices

Implanted medical devices are becoming so sophisticated that if measures are not taken to increase their security they could easily be used to hurt rather than help. In John Timmer's article entitled Hacking Implanted Defibrillators: shockingly easy he explains how defibrillators work. "These devices monitor the heart's electrical activity and, when an arrhythmic event is detected, can induce a shock that resets the heart. They also contain small radio transmitters that let doctors read their monitoring of the heart and even reprogram the device to customize it to the patient." At first glance this device sounds very cool and helpful, but after a closer look it has been found that it is "incredibly easy" to hack these devices. Not only could a hacker obtain medical information about you, but they could change the customizations on the device to make it harmful, even deadly. I believe that more laws need to be made concerning the security that is required to be built in to any medical electronic device. Action needs to be taken before some curious, teenage hacker accidentally shocks somebody to death with an implanted defibrillator.