US warns of unusual cybersecurity flaw in heart devices

This Wednesday, July 22, 2015, file photo shows St. Jude Medical corporate headquarters, in Little Canada, Minn., just north of St. Paul. The Homeland Security Department is warning the public about an unusual cybersecurity flaw for one manufacturer’s implantable heart devices that could allow hackers to remotely take control of a person’s defibrillator or pacemaker.

US warns of unusual cybersecurity flaw in heart devices

The Homeland Security Department warned Tuesday about an unusual cybersecurity flaw for one manufacturer’s implantable heart devices that it said could allow hackers to remotely take control of a person’s defibrillator or pacemaker. Information on the security flaw, identified by researchers at MedSec Holdings in reports months ago, was only formally made public after the manufacturer, St. Jude Medical, made a software repair available Monday.

St. Jude says it’s working to protect pacemakers from hackers :0

Nearly five months after ending up in the crosshairs of a short seller, St. Jude Medical said Monday it’s upgrading its cybersecurity to enhance the safety of its implantable heart devices. The updates come after the Food and Drug Administration found that St. Jude’s heart devices have “vulnerabilities” that could allow hackers to break into pacemakers, resulting in battery depletion or “inappropriate pacing or shocks.”