Pacemaker Hacker

What Does Pacemaker Hacker Mean?

A pacemaker hacker is an individual who can hack the access control and operational parameters of a biological pacemaker device. A pacemaker hacker can rewrite, recode or modify a pacemaker’s firmware and software so that increased – and potentially lethal – electrical shocks are sent to the human heart for malicious purposes.

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Techopedia Explains Pacemaker Hacker

Of all malicious activists and hackers, pacemaker hackers are among the most feared and dangerous. These hackers can wirelessly access the built-in controls of a patient’s biologically embedded pacemaker device from close proximity.

Upon access, a pacemaker hacker can transmit higher frequency and lethal shocks to a patient’s heart. This is made possible by reverse engineering the pacemaker’s embedded firmware, uploading a virus code or modifying existing code to higher voltage frequencies. Moreover, an infected pacemaker can then replicate or transfer the worm or virus to the pacemaker devices of nearby patients.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…