And you thought the need for antivirus protection was limited your computer. Not anymore! It seems that Mark Gasson of the University of Reading has demonstrated that it’s possible to contract and spread computer viruses via implanted RFID chips. And pacemakers. And insulin pumps. And ….
Man Infects Himself with Computer Virus (http://www.technewsdaily.com/man-infects-himself-with-computer-virus-0619)
Many people, myself included, predict that the use of implanted RFID chips will become much more common in the workplace.
Name badges and i.d. cards can be easily swapped, meaning that they’re not secure. The security folks don’t really know that the person who walked through that turnstile on the way to the elevators is truly the person pictured on the photo i.d.
RFID chips can be implanted in a quick, painless, in-office procedure and removed with only a little more effort. It’s already been done to dogs and cats in veterinarian offices for many years.
To enhance security, and to ensure that employees are gaining access only to areas where they are authorized, I predict that it’s only a matter of time before this becomes common in the office workplace.
The current article highlights one downside of this trend, and a possible reason to delay it. These RFID devices can apparently be exploited to spread unauthorized, “viral” code.
So, the next time you update your antivirus program on your computer, think about taking the next logical step and also installing some form of environmental antivirus software. You know, something that will protect your personal chipsets from being hijacked by the Russian mafia.
And, don’t underestimate the ruthlessness of our fellow humans. TechNewsDaily quotes Gasson as saying, “I don’t think for us that [infectious technological agents] would be a particularly new concept, but implants in our bodies will make it a lot more real. A denial-of-service attack on a pacemaker, if such a thing were possible, would of course be very detrimental.”
