R and D

A Password for Implants

Oct. 4, 2013 8:30 p.m. ET

Implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators save lives, but the scary downside is that they can be hacked. That's the chilling way a terrorist kills the U.S. vice president in an episode of "Homeland."

How is that possible? Most implanted devices nowadays are made to be monitored and adjusted wirelessly, but they lack security codes because an emergency medical team might need immediate access,...

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