LifeSec: Don't Hack my Body!
- Reference number
- RIT17-0020
- Project leader
- Voigt, Thiemo
- Start and end dates
- 180301-240831
- Amount granted
- 27 000 000 SEK
- Administrative organization
- Uppsala University
- Research area
- Information, Communication and Systems Technology
Summary
The number of people with implanted devices is increasing rapidly. In the future more and more people will have multiple implants that must be networked. We have recently shown that the human body’s adipose can be used for radio frequency (RF) communication. By enabling higher data rates than conventional in-body communication methods, our approach makes novel applications such as brain-to-machine interfaces possible. Observing changes in the RF communication characteristics, our approach can also perform sensing, e.g., to identify relapses of breast cancer tumors. Implanted devices must be effectively secured to avoid life-threatening scenarios where attackers control implanted devices such as pacemakers or insuline pumps, or install malware inside a human's body. We devise a security architecture for networked implanted medical devices that also enables a secure connection of the in-body network to the Internet. Our architecture ensures confidentiality, integrity and availability of the implanted devices considering also patients' privacy. We develop a demonstrator to highlight LifeSec’s achievements in a realistic setting that is validated by ex- and in-vivo measurements. We have gathered an interdisciplinary consortium with competences in computer science (incl. security), medical engineering, wireless control and clinical end-users. To ensure collaboration with other relevant research initiatives and industrial impact LifeSec, has a carefully selected reference group.
Popular science description
The number of people with implanted devices such as pacemakers is increasing rapidly. Already in 2005, 25 Mio US citizens were relying on implanted medical devices. In the future more and more people will have multiple implants in their bodies. For many applications it is useful that these devices communicate which each other and that they can be connected to a device outside the body in order to get Internet connectivity. This enables that a doctor can remotely assess a patient’s health state and react quickly in case of emergencies. We have recently shown that the human body’s adipose can be used for radio frequency (RF) communication within the body. By enabling higher data rates we can transmit more information than conventional in-body communication methods. This way, our approach makes novel applications such as brain-to-machine interfaces possible. By observing changes in the RF communication characteristics, our approach can also perform sensing, e.g., to identify relapses of breast cancer tumors: for example, a tumor would dampen the radio signal. Implanted devices must be effectively secured to avoid life-threatening scenarios where attackers control implanted devices such as pacemakers or insuline pumps, or install malware inside a human's body. We devise a security architecture for networked implanted medical devices that also enables a secure connection of the in-body network to the Internet. Our architecture ensures confidentiality, integrity and availability of the implanted devices considering also patients' privacy and making sure only people who should be allowed to access and read from the in-body devices can do so. We develop a demonstrator to highlight LifeSec’s achievements in a realistic setting that is validated by measurements both on excised tissues and living pigs considering ethical approval. We have gathered an interdisciplinary consortium with competences in computer science (including security), medical engineering, wireless control and clinical end-users. To ensure collaboration with other relevant research initiatives in Sweden and industrial impact LifeSec, has a carefully selected reference group.