Abstract

Implantable medical devices (IMDs) --- such as pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators --- can save lives and greatly improve a patient's quality of life. As the use of wireless IMDs increases and as these devices begin to interoperate in vivo, there will be a heightened need to address IMD security and patient privacy under adversarial conditions. We present a framework for the evaluation of the security and privacy of wireless IMDs, focusing on the tensions between these goals and traditional IMD design goals like safety and utility. We enumerate design criteria for each goal and identify ways in which they can be mutually exclusive. We propose research directions towards mitigating some conflicts, but ultimately solutions will require design tradeoffs and the collective expertise of the medical community, security community, and regulatory bodies. Our hope is that this discussion will inspire further collaboration between these groups in addressing these emerging problems.

Availability

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