Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Dr. Marie Moe is a cyborg.  She has a pacemaker that controls the beating of her heart, and without it, she would die.  But Marie also has a PhD in information security, and worked on cybersecurity for the Norwegian government.  So she wondered if this new piece of tech within her could be compromised.  She wondered, “Could someone hack my heart?”

Many people don’t think that hacking a pacemaker would be a problem – but like any computer, it is made of software and firmware.  Many times, they even have a bluetooth connection.  And where there is connectivity, there is hackability.

Marie began asking questions to her doctors.  She read the technical manual of her pacemaker.  And what she found worried her.  Her pacemaker had security holes.  Someone could hack her heart.

Marie now is a Research Manager at SINTEF and is also an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.  She is also a member of I Am the Cavalry, a grassroots organization that deals with cybersecurity and everyday life.  We talk about how devices like a pacemaker can be compromised, and what we can do about it.

You can follow Marie at @MarieGMoe.

Background music you hear are clips from Her by Drake Stafford licensed under CC BY 4.0, Dybbuk Box by Sergey Cheremisinov licensed under CC BY 4.0, Stay the Course by Kevin McCleod (https://incompetech.com) licensed under CC BY 4.0, Probably Shouldn’t by DJLang licensed under CC by 3.0. , and Lost Time by Kevin McCleod (https://incompetech.com) licensed under CC BY 4.0.