Last updated on February 20, 2024
What is Brainjacking?
Doctors worldwide use brain implants for disabled patients specifically when treating patients with Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, tremor and muscle spasms. Brainjacking is a cyber attack done by hacking the brain implants of a person in an unauthorized way.
How hackers get into brainjacking?
Neurosurgeons usually get control over the human brain to reduce symptoms of patients by targeting different areas of the brain with different stimulation parameters. They do it with wireless stimulators and this gives the chance for malicious hackers to create troublesome attacks and gain unauthorized control over patients putting their lives in danger.
Brainjacking allows
hackers to manipulate
people’s minds and rewrite their memories
What are the risks of brainjacking?
Hacked brain implants may cause:
• Increased pain and tissue damage
• Termination of stimulation
• Draining implant batteries
• Information theft
• Damage to motor function
• Alternations of impulse control
• Undesirable mental conditioning
How to prevent from brainjacking?
• Implementing cybersecurity in early phase of design and planning of devices related to brain implant technologies
• Encryption
• Identity and access management
• Patching and regular updating of security related to brain implant technologies
• Setting strong passwords
• Educating medical professionals and patients on taking precautions
Sources:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/brainjacking-%E2%80%93-new-cyber-security-threat
https://www.allerin.com/blog/should-we-be-concerned-about-brainjacking
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27184896/