Hospira Symbiq Pumps Vulnerable to Hacking

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I remember years ago there was an episode of Law & Order where someone was hacking into a hospital's glucose monitors. Fiction becomes reality.

Has anyone experienced issues of hacking in his/her hospital?

Hospital Drug Pump Can Be Hacked Through Network, FDA Warns - Bloomberg Business

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Specializes in critical care.

Holy crap that's terrifying!

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU, ER, PICU, Corrections.

No, thank goodness! How crazy!

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Specializes in Oncology.

Really though, anyone motivated enough to hack an IV pump through a hospital's wireless network, could more likely just walk in, act like they belong there, and program the pump however they want. Using the buttons. The biggest risk I could see would be with high impact targets- ie, political figures. I'm guessing they're not in hospitals using outdated IV pumps, though. This makes me think of an article about insulin pumps being hacked. Would love to see the law and order episode.

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Specializes in Oncology.

I can't paste for some reason, but the article can easily be found on Forbes by googling "hacking insulin pump."

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

@blondy

Would love to see the law and order episode.

Law & Order - Season 3, Episode 19: Virus - TV.com

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Specializes in Oncology.

Thanks. I really thought I'd be able to find the episode on Netflix. Or Amazon Instant Video. Or iTunes. Or YouTube. But nope. Found the whole season on Amazon on DVD for $14 shipped. Guess I'll relive 90's prime time glory days.

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