Encryption system protects medical devices against attack
1 min read
A new system developed by researchers at MIT has been designed to prevent attacks on wireless medical devices. The technology makes use of built in encryption to block signals from unauthorised users.
According to Dina Katabi, an associate professor at MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the system incorporates a second transmitter that jams unauthorised signals in an implant's operating frequency, permitting only authorised users to communicate with it. "Because the jamming transmitter, rather than the implant, would handle encryption and authentication, the system would work even with existing implants," she said.
The key to the system is a new technique that allows the jamming transmitter, or shield, to simultaneously send and receive signals in the same frequency band. "With ordinary wireless technology, that's not possible," noted Katabi. "The transmitted signal would interfere with the received signal, rendering it unintelligible. Think of the jamming signal that we are creating as a secret key. Everyone who doesn't know the secret key just sees a garbage signal. Because the shield knows the shape of its own jamming signal, however, it can, in effect, subtract it from the received signal."
The researchers will be presenting their findings at the Association for Computing Machinery's upcoming Sigcomm conference in Canada.
