British
scientist Dr. Mark Gasson from the University of Reading inserted a
contaminated version of an ID computer
chip, normally used to track pets, into his hand to
help prove that the chip was able to pass computer viruses on to
other external control systems.
Dr.
Gasson's chip allows him to pass through security doors and activate
his cell phone. It uses ambient electromagnetic energy to transmit
data. Through a series of tests, Dr. Gasson was able to show that the
chip affects all surrounding computerized systems and if any
other implanted
chips connect to the system, they too would be damaged by
the contaminated chip.
While
digital implants can be beneficial to the progress of cell phone
technology, Dr. Gasson warns that problems
can arise with having so many surrounding systems
interacting this way.
"With
the benefits of this type of technology come risks," said Dr.
Gasson. "We may improve ourselves in some way but much like the
improvements with other
technologies, mobile phones for example, they become vulnerable
to risks, such as security problems and computer viruses."
Implant
technology is also expected to traverse into the medical world (to
some extent it already has). Human implants have the potential to put
devices such as cochlear implants and pacemakers in jeopardy,
according to Professor Rafael Capurro of the
Steinbeis-Transfer-Institute of Information Ethics in Germany, who
said "if someone can get online access to your implant, it could
be serious."
"This
type of technology has been commercialized in the United States as a
type of medical alert bracelet, so that if you're found unconscious
you can be scanned and your medical history brought up," said
Dr. Gasson.
Professor
Capurro believes there are good and bad sides to the surveillance of
implants. His concerns are with someone else tapping into another's
implant and doing them harm as well as the abuse of human
implants if used outside of the medical setting. Though Dr.
Gasson believes that these implants will someday be in great demand
for both medical and cosmetic procedures.
"If
we can find a way of enhancing someone's memory or their IQ, then
there's a real possibility that people will choose to have this kind
of invasive procedure," added Dr. Gasson.
