British scientist becomes first human 'infected' with a computer virus

Sure, a cybernetic-filled, dystopian future may sound nice and cheery, but what happens when all your snazzy implants get infected with a computer virus? That's what one brave researcher at the University of Reading is attempting to find out, and he's now actually gone so far as to willingly "infect" himself in the name of science. As you might expect, however, this is all this very much a proof of concept, but Dr. Mark Gasson says that the infected RFID chip in his hand was indeed able to pass on the virus to an external control device in his trials, and he warns that the eventual real world implications could be far more dire. Gasson is particularly concerned when it comes to medical implants, which he says could potentially become infected by other implants in the body, and even pass on the "infection" to other people. Head on past the break for the BBC's report, and try not to be too startled by the Dalek in the room.

[Thanks, Mark S]

[Khalid Shahin Posted May 26th 2010 2:22PM]

Cyborg Zombies!!!

[Xega Posted May 26th 2010 2:40PM]

Time to get a Mac, iphone or ipad. Their all virus free.

[spaz4322 Posted May 26th 2010 2:41PM]

@Xega

false, viruses on mac products are not only possible but very easy to do. i think it was a head securtiy guy in mac that stated their scurity is like a farm in a wide open field, compared to windows security which is like a house in a city with locks on the doors and bars on the windows.

[thisisit Posted May 26th 2010 2:42PM]

@Xega,
beware of iAids from viewing an iAd on your iDevices.

[compubasic Posted May 26th 2010 2:43PM]

@Xega

Yeah but apparently they don't have a good grammar check...

[GBUKGB Posted May 26th 2010 2:55PM]

@Khalid Shahin so now we are waiting for the infected cyborg zombie games and movie.
Winner!

[Khalid Shahin Posted May 26th 2010 2:57PM]

@GBUKGB And our Cyborg Zombie Overlords.

[spartan1 Posted May 26th 2010 2:58PM]

@Khalid Shahin
kinda puts a whole new spin on botnet and zombie pc's,eh?lol

[Cru Posted May 26th 2010 4:55PM]

@Khalid Shahin
LaLiLuLeLo?

[Mark S Posted May 26th 2010 5:37PM]

@thisisit

Don't forget to wear a condom when inserting an ipad i guess.

Btw computer virus infected thumbs up engadget!

[cge10 Posted May 26th 2010 6:27PM]

@spaz4322 that is a perfect analogy actually, no one breaks in to a "farm house" because chances are they dont have that much expensive "stuff" where as in a city everyone has "expensive toys and cars".

[Jacinth Posted May 26th 2010 7:25PM]

@Khalid Shahin

Oh man, I'm going to be a Implant Virus Doctor. :D

[acn010 Posted May 27th 2010 1:12AM]

@Cru
Lol awesome! :D

[WeirdHero Posted May 26th 2010 2:22PM]

I'm looking forward to the first defibrillator virus.

[Rainier Posted May 26th 2010 2:26PM]

@WeirdHero
Why?

[Hussain Rahim Posted May 26th 2010 2:22PM]

Nice try, I'm still not installing Norton.

[Distant Posted May 26th 2010 2:23PM]

@Hussain Rahim

This. Win.

[Critic2029 Posted May 26th 2010 2:27PM]

@Distant

qft

[Dking7 Posted May 26th 2010 2:38PM]

@Hussain Rahim
it will come pre installed on your RFID tag...

[Archon Posted May 26th 2010 3:37PM]

@Hussain Rahim Microsoft Security Center FTW

[JimmyBoy Posted May 26th 2010 3:52PM]

@Distant I am so annoyed with this manner of speaking. This. Fail.

[nysics Posted May 26th 2010 6:43PM]

@Dking7 Will it slow you down?

[kapanak Posted May 27th 2010 2:01AM]

@Dking7

It is still a 90-day trial...afterwards, daily "ZAPS!" will remind you to buy a license...

[loginatnine Posted May 26th 2010 2:22PM]

Cue the usual Mac vs. PC virus debates...

[Shunnabunich Posted May 26th 2010 2:25PM]

@loginatnine Sigh, yeah...and before anyone chimes in with "just don't run Windows on your implants lololol", you only need to be a carrier to do damage.

[SolidSnake Posted May 26th 2010 2:23PM]

Exterminate!!

[dingus Posted May 26th 2010 2:23PM]

It doesn't take much to get a doctorate these days...

[Lord Vader Posted May 26th 2010 2:24PM]

My Bad

[ChazClout Posted May 26th 2010 2:29PM]

@Lord Vader
The Dalek in the vid would kick your arse!

EXTERMINATE!

[Lord Vader Posted May 26th 2010 2:31PM]

@ChazClout. Is it meant to be inanimate? Don't underestimate the power of the Darkside

[DarthBane Posted May 26th 2010 2:42PM]

@Lord Vader

Vader, you had your robotic ass handed to you by a bunch of whiny teenagers. I doubt you have the force skills necessary to threaten the Daleks....

[dajimmers Posted May 26th 2010 2:48PM]

@ChazClout I don't know, Vader might be the only thing effective against the Daleks, if his force-choke can reach the bugger inside.

[d0mth0ma5 Posted May 26th 2010 3:01PM]

@dajimmers That's an old Dalek anyway, the new ones are much... bigger (that's all we know)

[SolidSnake Posted May 26th 2010 3:08PM]

@ChazClout
Dude, I said that first.
Exterminate!©

I will sue you for an undisclosed amount...

[safe travels Posted May 26th 2010 2:24PM]

moral of the story: dont put microchips inside you.
hurrp derrp

(at least not if you can help it. i fear for a future when we all need chips to carry out basic social interactions like buying stuff...)

[BigJayDogg3 Posted May 26th 2010 2:26PM]

@safe travels

*confused* How is buying stuff a social interaction?

[safe travels Posted May 26th 2010 2:29PM]

@BigJayDogg3
well... it's an interaction, and its a very common one that you perform in society. 'social' means 'referring to society', not 'stuff you do with your friends'

[BigJayDogg3 Posted May 26th 2010 2:32PM]

@safe travels

(OIC)...

Wait, you mean people still leave their houses to buy stuff?

[cloud858rk Posted May 26th 2010 3:16PM]

@BigJayDogg3 Well I have to step outside to sign for the toilet paper I order from Amazon. Does that count?

[BigJayDogg3 Posted May 26th 2010 2:26PM]

What's this "alt.engadget.com" business?

[Triscuit Posted May 26th 2010 2:30PM]

@BigJayDogg3 I know that last night Mr. Topolsky himself was tweeting about big changes coming today...

[Triscuit Posted May 26th 2010 2:32PM]

@BigJayDogg3 Which, if I'm correct, may have already gone live. Pretty sure the Engadget main page is new.

[BigJayDogg3 Posted May 26th 2010 2:38PM]

@Triscuit

Yeah it did. When I went to it right before I posted this, all it told me was "coming soon".

[shockr Posted May 26th 2010 2:27PM]

So this will only affect cyborgs, right?

[plbelanger Posted May 26th 2010 2:27PM]

I always wondered what the human equivalent of a BSOD would look like.

[MattsZ Posted May 26th 2010 2:28PM]

@plbelanger

blue balls will suffice

[Triscuit Posted May 26th 2010 2:27PM]

When I read the headline, my second thought was "OHDEARLORDYLORDYES!", because my first though was "Scientist infects himself with computer virus? Like Chuck has the intersect?... "

[rugby200 Posted May 26th 2010 2:28PM]

Its the Dalek behind him that makes it believable!

[BrianH Posted May 26th 2010 2:30PM]

@BecauseItsNotGoogle

looks like an engadget green site, like green autoblog.

[Geaux Posted May 26th 2010 2:33PM]

Man: "Doc, I think I have RROD ....."
Doctor: "That's just ringworm..."