Salt Generation for Hashing Schemes based on ECG readings for Emergency Access to Implantable Medical Devices

Abstract

Secure communication in medical devices is a pillar in ensuring patient's safety. However, in emergency cases, this can hinder the recovery of the patient. If an emergency team cannot give themselves access to the IMD without the user's assistance, they may be unable to offer any help. This paper introduces a security scheme for similar cases. By creating a backdoor to the IMDs, legal authentication may be performed with the IMD and gain access to it. This work presents a procedure for an emergency team to validate their actions to the IMD without the need of the patient's conscious. This is ensured using hashing function and elliptic curves for the security key generation. The seed that will be used will be the heart rhythm of the patient. The authentication process introduced will only allow access to the identified parties. An eavesdropper will be unable to interfere during emergency cases and can threaten patients' lives.