Thanks to ShootUp reader Scotty for alerting this dog to a news story about a diabetic geek who has managed to hack into his own insulin pump and CGM with external devices and adjust their settings. The inference being that if he’s done it to himself, other evil people who were really clever and really wanted to could maliciously do this too. This dog is quite excited by the prospect and is going away to immediately brush up his IT skills. The fun I could have by hacking into Alison’s and Tim’s pumps is beyond my wildest dreams.
If I was a diabetic dog, I’d probably say this is technically very interesting, but given the likelihood of it happening is far slimmer than most complications it’s not something that would be top of my diabetes related worries list. It would be nice to think the manufacturers have it on their to fix list though. As I’m not a diabetic dog, I say this sounds fascinating and I’m off to cause as much chaos as I can. Woof.
The chances are about as genuine as someone breaking into your refrigerator and replacing your Humalog or Novolog/Novorapid with rubbing alcohol instead. Could it happen? Perhaps, but the risk would require a very motivated hacker to do it.
I think there nothing to worry about, but would be great fun to be in the same room whilst hacking someone’s pump, perhaps irritating the living daylights out of them by triggering the alarms! Amusing!
I concur with @sstrumello and @mikeinspain – I’ll put it on my list of things to be worryed about just below getting hit by a jet-propelled mobility scooter whilst in the outside lane of the M6.
Or even worried.
The documentation that came with my pump/meter combo said very clearly that you werent to let children play with the meter, as they could inadvertantly (or, depending on the age of the child, advertantly) give you an insulin dose.
I think this a far more likely scenario than someone hacking it (even taking into account the fact that there are no children of any age in my house).
So not too concerned, to be honest…
@ Annette I think I’d agree with that.
I’d like to know what thought process you go through that leads you to starting to try to hack your own pump. Even if it had occured to me to try it, I suspect something more interesting would soon have distracted me.
That said, if my pump ever beeps randomly from now on I will always check around for any sinister looking types nearby with a TV remote in their pockets 😉
Arragh! Arragh! Arrrrrrgh! Panic!!
Oh, you said *not* panic-inducing, sorry Nugent.