Would You Like To Be Infected With A Computer Virus?

If you would like to be infected with a computer virus, you would first need to have implanted in your body a chip, and I discussed that topic in a previous post. A scientist who has a chip implanted in his hand decided to infect it with a computer virus. From the article:

The virus, infecting a chip implanted in Gasson's hand, passed into a laboratory computer. From there, the infection could have spread into other computer chips found in building access cards.

All this was intentional, in an experiment to see how simple radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips like those used for tracking animals can host and spread technological diseases.

Gasson had a relatively simple chip implanted in the top of his left hand near his thumb last year. It emits a signal that is read by external sensors, allowing him access to the Reading laboratory and for his cell phone to operate.

He and his colleagues created a malicious code for the chip. When the lab's sensors read the code, the code inserted itself into the building computer database that governs who has access to the premises.

"The virus replicates itself through the database and potentially could copy itself onto the access cards that people use," Gasson said.

The experiment showed that implants which wirelessly communicate with other computers can infect them and vice versa.

He also goes on to explain that bionic medical devices such as a heart pacemaker, for example, may receive a malicious code to stop it from working properly thus endangering the patients life. Cochlear implants and brain stimulators used for patients with Parkinson´s disease also face interruption by a malicious virus.
My interpretation of this study is skeptical, but then again I usually am when it comes to research that looks at the nefarious uses of technology. Why choose to do research on how a computer virus can infect an implant unless in the future, an implant will be required for business, identification, and money transactions. Of course this is the science fiction, tin foil hat wearer in me, but I still wonder about this type of research.
You can read the entire article at LiveScience.com at the link below.

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