NSA considers collecting information from medical devices

The NSA is looking at possibilities to collect information from devices that are classified as medical devices, such as pacemakers. The organization also sees opportunities in the ever-expanding ‘internet-of-things’, with which many more devices can be tapped.

That said CEO Richard Ledgett during a meeting on military technology in the American capital Washington, about which The Intercept reports. According to Ledgett, medical devices are looked at ‘from a theoretical perspective’, so it is not yet clear whether the NSA actually wants to eavesdrop on pacemakers. It could become a “niche in the tool set,” Ledgett said. He also indicated that there are easier methods to keep an eye on suspects.

At the same time, NSA is also looking at external risks of biomedical devices. For example, no NSA employee has yet to be provided with a medical device that can make remote connections, but once this is the case, it will probably cause headaches, Ledgett said. It has been shown several times that devices such as pacemakers can in some cases be hacked by malicious parties.

Ledgett also expressed his interest in the emerging phenomenon of the Internet of Things, in which all kinds of devices are provided with an internet connection and can communicate. This provides opportunities for the NSA to break in and gather information.