Hello, cyberstalkers! Hello, random carders. In the 21st century, the future has already arrived (we are now talking about developed countries). The topic of the day is whether it is possible to infect a chip implanted under the skin with a virus, and whether we should be afraid that we can be chipped unnoticed.
Go:
"Good morning, Professor"
In 1998, British cybernetic scientist Kevin Warwick[/B] I decided on an unusual and even innovative experiment at that time. The cyborg professor, as the press later called him, had a small glass capsule implanted in his arm with an electromagnetic coil and a silicon chip inside. To demonstrate the technology in action, he entered the building where he then worked, leaning his hand against the reader. "Good morning, Professor Warwick. You have five new emails," said the computer voice activated by the chip.
This research experiment was intended to demonstrate convenience of using RFID tags in everyday life. For example, they allow you to keep your house keys and work pass not just at hand, but literally in your hand. Nevertheless, after 20 years after the first experiment, many people are suspicious of such "upgrades". Not every doctor will decide to implant a chip — and not even because the procedure is dangerous (in terms of complexity, it can probably be compared with piercing), but simply because almost no one does such operations, at least in Russia.
RFID tags are almost constantly used in everyday life. They are hidden in your travel cards, bank cards for contactless payment, stickers on goods in the store, biometric passports and even, possibly, in the withers of your favorite pet. This technology is so simple and familiar that we do not even think about its existence — until, of course, until we are offered to implant a chip in our arm. Those who expand the capabilities of their body through the implantation of cybernetic devices are called "cybernetics".grinders". In fact, these are the same biohackers, only in a narrower direction.
What made Kevin Warwick to take such an unusual step at that time and implant a chip in your arm? First of all, probably, curiosity, but not only it. Paradoxically, this is the fear of progress.
Computers are developing extremely fast: until recently, the game "Minesweeper" seemed to be something exciting, risky and exciting, but today we are no longer surprised by the snide remarks of voice assistants and artificial intelligence systems that beat professional chess and go players. In a 2006 interview, Warwick remarked that only by evolving into cyborgs can humans retain power over the planet. In his opinion, before the rise of the machines there is only nothing left — some 20-40 years, and then they, if humanity does not figure out how to expand its capabilities, will put us in a zoo "along with other animals".
Interestingly, Stephen Hawking held the same (though much less fatalistic) views. In an interview, he said: "To maintain the superiority of biological systems over electronic ones, we need to improve our nature by complicating DNA or connecting with machines."
So, it turns out that you urgently need to look for a surgeon who will implant you with the cherished chip? If you are waiting for an unambiguous answer to this question, then it will not be available.
I'll be a cyborg
Over the past 20 years, the industry of manufacturing implantable RFID chips has taken a step forward. Perhaps one of the brightest stars of the market can be called the company Dangerous Things, which sells ready-made kits for self-introduction under the skin of a glass capsule. Today, they are ordered by customers from different countries, including Russia. By 2017, Dangerous Things sold about 10 thousand sets, and we can assume that this figure has grown today.
The kit includes: medical gloves; a cotton swab soaked in iodine; sterile wipes; a set for implanting a radio tag for animals, consisting of an applicator with a special RFID tag already embedded (which is not suitable for humans, since it has a special coating to which body tissues are attached over time, so it becomes impossible to remove it), and, in fact, the chip itself. This simple kit allows you to perform the operation at home.
A Habr user named termsl ordered such a set back in 2013. As he wrote in his post, the implantation went without problems and the glass capsule did not cause him any inconvenience. A similar experience was described by user AndrewRo in 2016, and he implanted not one, but four implants in his arm at once (including a small magnet), which help him unlock the phone and the door from the house.
Not only individual enthusiasts, but also companies are experimenting with implants - however, such cases are still isolated. These include, for example, a vending machine manufacturing company in Wisconsin, USA. Three Square Market says that the $ 300 chip will allow an employee to open doors, log in to a computer, and even buy food from the company's cafeteria. In 2017, 50 employees agreed to microchip implantation. BioHax International, a supplier of chips for Three Square Market, claims that dozens of firms, including international companies, are interested in implementing such a service.
The Swedish experience is another example that deserves attention. The country is home to about 3.5 thousand people who have implanted a chip under their skin. Thanks to the efforts of Biohax International, which has been selling and installing chips at technical fairs since 2015, in June 2017, ticket inspectors on Swedish railways began scanning passengers ' hands using a special reader. At the same time, the government of the country has not expressed an official position on the sale of chips: it neither approves nor prohibits it.
Experts explain the phenomenon of Sweden's unique technological climate in the country. Over the past two decades, the Swedish government has invested heavily in technology infrastructure, and the country's economy now relies heavily on digital exports, digital services, and innovation.
This has also greatly influenced Swedish culture. For example, it played a major role in shaping the ideas of transhumanism: in 1998, Swede Nick Bostrom founded a public non-governmental organization Humanity + an organization that supports technologies that enhance human capabilities. Today, many people in Sweden are convinced that they should improve and develop their biological bodies — and, as practice shows, they are actively doing so.
Your documents
There are many applications for RFID chips, and they are not limited to easy access to buildings and quick purchases. Important areas include, for example, medicine. Some doctors believe that an implanted RFID tag with the patient's medical history (what antibiotics he took in the past, what he is allergic to, and so on) would help to provide quick and effective assistance to victims who are unconscious.
Such a chip is especially useful for patients suffering from memory disorders, such as patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, this raises the problem of obtaining informed consent for medical intervention, as it is necessary for the implantation procedure.
Another obvious use is for personal identification. The need for paper documents disappears if the person is a carrier of the chip. Actually, today a similar idea is implemented in the form of tags for animals, which allow a person who finds a lost pet to bring it to a clinic or other organization, where in a matter of minutes they will determine who it belongs to. In addition, it is absolutely necessary to chip your pets if you want to transport them across the border.
Identification using chips is also used in animal husbandry: Last month, the Vedomosti newspaper reported that the Ministry of Agriculture had prepared a bill obliging labeling and chipping of domestic animals, as well as livestock in private subsidiary farms. Moreover, RFID tags are used in many other countries — often they can be seen in the form of a tag attached to the animal's ear.
However, when it comes to a similar method of identifying a person, many people start to worry about their privacy. These fears are partly justified, of course, but they are not what most people think they should be afraid of.
Steal my ID
Almost the main thing that most people are afraid of when it comes to chips, "I'll be followed now." However, RFID tags have a special feature that does not allow them to be used for registering movements. The implant does not have its own battery — the chip receives an electric charge with an incoming radio signal that provides enough power to transmit a response. In everyday life, chips are used that allow you to read information at a distance of no more than 20 centimeters from the signal source (remember how you pay using the PayPass system at the checkout).
Another threat, slightly less baseless, is identity theft.
Today, the whole world is concerned about the growing number of scammers who can remotely steal a person's identification number and use it for their own purposes. "Anyone can come up to me on the subway and read anything. This is not cool, " says Stanislav Kupriyanov, an IT expert at Ericsson. inserted it an implant with an NFC tag in your hand.
RFID chips are really vulnerable and susceptible to hacking, although some companies are improving their security. Today, they protect chips from the most common types of hacking that allow attackers to obtain encryption keys — for example, from attacks on third-party channels (side-channel attack) and power failure attacks (power glitch attack). However, implants are still mostly vulnerable. Of course, it is not so easy to steal a person's identity: you need to know exactly where the RFID tag is located, and figure out how to bring a device to it that allows you to carry out the necessary fraud.
Further, hypothetically, the chip can be turned into a carrier of a virus program. This experiment was conducted by a researcher from the University of Reading (Britain) Mark Gasson which showed that an implant capable of carrying only one kilobyte of information is still vulnerable to malware.
In 2009, a cyberneticist implanted a glass tag in his arm and used it, to enter the university building. A year later, in April 2010, he demonstrated how a computer virus can be transmitted to the tag during information exchange with the security system. Following this, Gasson infected several devices that interacted with the chip, including the cards of his colleagues. In his opinion, these results demonstrate that in the future, advanced medical devices such as pacemakers and inner ear implants may become vulnerable to cyber attacks.
There is a separate group of people who are afraid that soon we will all begin to be quietly chipped.
Their nightmare goes something like this: a patient comes to the doctor for a flu shot or a Mantoux test, and a small glass capsule is discreetly inserted into his blood along with the vaccine. In the very distant future, this may become a reality, but not today.
First, it is difficult to perform such a procedure without the patient noticing it at least while he's still conscious. The usual size of the implant is 2 × 12 millimeters, and its introduction will require not a thin needle, but a decent catheter, such an injection can hardly be called ordinary. Secondly, the capsule remains visible after being inserted under the skin, and a person who has undergone chipping can easily detect it.
And the last argument against mass chipization: this is quite expensive. Given the fact that the RFID tag does not allow you to follow a person or otherwise use it remotely (for example, to identify a criminal in a crowd), the benefit to the state from such an event is doubtful.
In general, running in the shadows, draw your own conclusions. But most importantly, remember, safety, bitch, decides.
