A Possibly Deadly Software Bug In Tandem Diabetes Care App

This Time It Was A Bug …

As our world is being taken over by smart devices the possibility of a software bug or virus causing the loss of life quickly grows. While losing control of your identity, money or data thanks to a hack is certainly horrifying, it doesn’t compare to the horrific results of a hack targeting something you rely on to survive.  The iOS app from Tandem Diabetes Care which controls implanted insulin pumps is sadly an example of this possibility.

The FDA was forced to put a recall in place after over 200 users of the app were injured when their pumps stopped functioning properly.  The app can crash and when it does it starts up again immediately; this would be a good thing if that restart loop didn’t significantly drain the pump’s battery.  This led to people thinking they were getting their full dose of insulin, when in fact they were not.

In this case it was an unintentional bug, but it highlights the trouble that could be caused by a bad actor actively targeting these types of devices.  If you know anyone using the Apple iOS t:connect mobile app used in conjunction with t:slim X2 insulin pump with Control-IQ technology, make sure they are aware of this issue.