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.