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If it is infeasible to keep certain critical, networked device up to date, then I propose an alternative solution: those devices should only produce output, they should not read anything at all from their external ports. Their only input, should be their physical user interface. Would that work, for, say, an x-ray machine, or an MRI?

We saw a fictional example of a scheme like this on Battlestar Galactica. Officers phoned and faxed orders around the ship, using simple devices that did not execute software. The CIC had its data punched in by radar operators, instead of networking with shipwide sensors. It was a lot of work, but it did keep working in the face of a sophisticated, combined malware/saboteur attack.



In theory sure that could work. In practice it would raise healthcare costs even further due to the extra manual labor. So that's not going to happen.




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