Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Wireless Cardiac Devices Vulnerable To Cyberattack

January 11, 2017 By Andy Szal

Federal regulators warned this week that select cardiac devices made by St. Jude Medical could be susceptible to cyberattacks.

The Food and Drug Administration reported that the Minnesota-based medical device maker’s Merlin@home radio-frequency enabled devices could be accessed and modified by hackers — including improperly pacing or shocking patient heartbeats or depleting the device’s battery.

The devices, including pacemakers, defibrillators and resynchronization devices, are implanted under the skin with wires connecting to the heart. A home monitor then wirelessly transmits and receives radio frequency signals to and from the device to regulate hearts that beat too slowly or quickly or treat patients in heart failure.

Data is also sent through an internet connection to the patient’s physicians through the company’s Merlin.net Patient Care Network.

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. The U.S. says security patches will be rolled out automatically over several months to patients with affected St. Jude Medical device transmitters at home, as long as they are plugged into the network. The transmitters send device data back to medical professionals. Abbott Laboratories’ St. Jude says it’s not aware of any deaths or injuries related to the vulnerability, nor is it aware of any specific device or system that’s been targeted. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP, File)

The FDA reported that an unauthorized user could exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities to alter the transmitter and modify commands to the implanted device.

The agency also noted that St. Jude automatically sent a security patch to address the issue starting Monday, and that it did not receive any reports of patients harmed by the security weaknesses.

St. Jude officials characterized the risk as “extremely low” and noted that all remote-monitoring devices are “exposed to the risk of a potential cyber security attack.” The company also touted its work with the FDA and other oversight agencies and said that its actions demonstration “that St. Jude Medical takes cyber security seriously.”

“There has been a great deal of attention on medical device security and it’s critical that the entire industry continually enhances and improves security while bringing advanced care to patients,” St. Jude cyber security adviser Ann Barron DiCamillo said in a statement.

Related Articles Read More >

Medtronic Hugo robot-assisted surgery system
The road to a robot: Medtronic’s development process for its Hugo RAS system
A portrait of Stryker executive Siddarth Satish
How Stryker includes users for product design in the digital age
A portrait of Stryker executive Tracy Robertson
Stryker leaders talk medtech trends at DeviceTalks Boston: ‘If you’re slow, you’re going to lose’
gBETA Medtech accelerator picks its next startups

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 13, 2022
Our Pre-Post-DeviceTalks Boston episode, also MedtronicTalks replay with Gastro CMO Austin Chiang
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech