Chip Implant Virus Research Debunked

A researcher has drawn battle lines between ‘cyberfud’ and ‘cyborg’ fans by conducting an experiment to show how radio frequency identity (RFID) chips could become electronically infected.

By having a contaminated chip implanted into his hand, Dr Mark Gasson from the Cybernetic Intelligence Research Group at the University of Reading is claiming to the first man in the world to become infected with a computer virus.

Human infection?

Gasson said he was able to spread the virus by using his implanted chip to access internal control systems.

But he also went on to claim in an interview with the BBC that this vulnerability could lead to contamination of human implants, as such technology is increasingly currently embedded in pet IDs and could be used in pacemakers and deep brain stimulators in the future.

But Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at IT security and data protection firm Sophos, was quick to squash the cyborg scaremongering following the publicity around Gasson’s research.

“Scientists should be responsible in how they present their research, rather than hyping up threats in order to get headlines,” said Cluley. “Any virus code on the RFID chip would be utterly incapable of running unless a serious security hole existed in the external device reading it.”

He explained that most RFID chips normally operate a read-only function, so the chances of a virus infection spreading in this fashion is “extremely remote”.  “Frankly, I’ve got more chance of being flattened by a falling grand piano than I have of getting my dog infected by a PC virus next time I take him to the vets,” he added.

Unrealistic threat

Sophos experts claim that while it is possible to put any software code onto an RFID chip, the code would not be read until an RFID reader came into contact with the affected RFID chip.  Furthermore, the software connected with the RFID reader itself would need to have a security vulnerability in order to allow the malicious code to be run.

Dr Gasson works at the University of Reading’s School of Systems Engineering and will present the results of his research at the International Symposium for Technology and Society in Australia next month.

But he’s not the only staff member at the University of Reading to court the media with tales of how RFID chips have been implanted into their bodies. A few years ago, Professor Kevin Warwick became famous after claiming he was on the way towards becoming a cyborg, by implanting a simple RFID chip in his arm.

“The scientists in Reading seem more interested in implanting chips inside themselves rather than their pet cat – but the fact remains that it makes no difference if an RFID chip is injected under your skin or stitched into the lining of your jacket,” added Cluley. “Predictions of pacemakers and cochlear implants being hit by virus infections is the very worst kind of scaremongering.”