ganjaluvr
Well-Known Member
Mark Gasson, a University of Reading researcher has recently become the first known human being to be infected by a computer virus.
You might be wondering how such a thing could be possible.
Humans infected by computer viruses?
The intentional experiment was performed as a way to illustrate how radio-frequency identification chips (RFID) can not only be vulnerable to viruses, but spread them as well.
What Gasson did was contract the virus into a chip implanted in his hand which then passed into a laboratory computer. If allowed to propagate, it was determined the virus could have spread into other chips found in building access cards (LiveScience.com).
About his experiment Gasson said "The virus replicates itself through the database and potentially could copy itself onto the access cards that people use" and LiveScience.com states "The experiment showed that implants which wirelessly communicate with other computers can infect them and vice versa".
In this increasingly tech savvy society where the lines between the traditional and virtual worlds are continually blurring, when you think about it, a human being infected by a computer virus doesn't sound all that off the wall.
Security experts recently determined that hackers can hack into automobiles, chips have been used in all sorts of body implants and in tracking animals, not to mention the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the VeriChip back in 2004 for human implantation. The company, now called Positive ID after a merge, markets and is exploring various non-invasive and implantable ways to use RFID technology on humans.
Over the course of time as technology continues to rapidly progress, the boundaries of reality and virtual continue to blend and what once seemed like science fiction in the past is not so far-fetched anymore.
According to the article in LiveScience.com Gasson said at this time he is not aware of any bionic devices contaminated by viruses however feels the threat will continue to become more of a viable one as devices become more complex.
If you think about it, perhaps it was only a matter of time before a human caught a computer bug. Chances are devices are going to become even more widely used which means a higher risk of infection if those intent on spreading viruses for whatever reason set their sites on doing so.
What's concerning is the thought of how much technology is being used for multiple purposes, including life-supporting or enhancing ones, and if cars can be hacked and humans can catch viruses, it makes one wonder what lies in the future.
Not to mention the new markets for virus and firewalls will emerge in the decades ahead. Today to protect themselves people have to scan their computers regularly, will they next have to scan themselves as well? Something to think about.
To read the full article, please visit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livesc ience/20100526/sc_livescience/ maninfectshimselfwithcomputerv irus
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100526/sc_livescience/maninfectshimselfwithcomputervirus
You might be wondering how such a thing could be possible.
Humans infected by computer viruses?
The intentional experiment was performed as a way to illustrate how radio-frequency identification chips (RFID) can not only be vulnerable to viruses, but spread them as well.
What Gasson did was contract the virus into a chip implanted in his hand which then passed into a laboratory computer. If allowed to propagate, it was determined the virus could have spread into other chips found in building access cards (LiveScience.com).
About his experiment Gasson said "The virus replicates itself through the database and potentially could copy itself onto the access cards that people use" and LiveScience.com states "The experiment showed that implants which wirelessly communicate with other computers can infect them and vice versa".
In this increasingly tech savvy society where the lines between the traditional and virtual worlds are continually blurring, when you think about it, a human being infected by a computer virus doesn't sound all that off the wall.
Security experts recently determined that hackers can hack into automobiles, chips have been used in all sorts of body implants and in tracking animals, not to mention the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the VeriChip back in 2004 for human implantation. The company, now called Positive ID after a merge, markets and is exploring various non-invasive and implantable ways to use RFID technology on humans.
Over the course of time as technology continues to rapidly progress, the boundaries of reality and virtual continue to blend and what once seemed like science fiction in the past is not so far-fetched anymore.
According to the article in LiveScience.com Gasson said at this time he is not aware of any bionic devices contaminated by viruses however feels the threat will continue to become more of a viable one as devices become more complex.
If you think about it, perhaps it was only a matter of time before a human caught a computer bug. Chances are devices are going to become even more widely used which means a higher risk of infection if those intent on spreading viruses for whatever reason set their sites on doing so.
What's concerning is the thought of how much technology is being used for multiple purposes, including life-supporting or enhancing ones, and if cars can be hacked and humans can catch viruses, it makes one wonder what lies in the future.
Not to mention the new markets for virus and firewalls will emerge in the decades ahead. Today to protect themselves people have to scan their computers regularly, will they next have to scan themselves as well? Something to think about.
To read the full article, please visit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livesc ience/20100526/sc_livescience/ maninfectshimselfwithcomputerv irus
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100526/sc_livescience/maninfectshimselfwithcomputervirus
Kinda makes you wonder.. I suppose... 
