Is it possible to kill someone with a keyboard?

Not a week goes by in 2016 without news of a hack hitting the headlines: from iCloud leaks to medical data, from dating websites to government servers, it seems that there’s no limit to what can be accessed by those skilful enough to find private information online.

You can set a password with a whole load of bizarre characters, install anti-virus software and log-out of your Facebook whenever you see fit. But the fact is that hacking is part of the harsh reality of living out our lives online, and there’s little as individuals we can do about it.

Of course, leaked bank details or seeing your intimate private pictures being spread across the web is no laughing matter, but what if a life was on the line and a hacker was able to strike? As technology progresses, so too do the opportunities for hackers to cause serious harm.

In the first episode of Motherboard’s Can I Hack It? three-part series, Victoria Turk heads to Seattle, Washington to meet the scientists not just designing technology that might one day keep us alive, but also the mechanisms to keep hackers out.

Looking at the future of medical operations, these guys are fine-tuning technology that could save countless lives.

The potential for remote surgery through tele-robotic systems is huge: surgeons could operate from anywhere on patients in remote locations, on the battlefield or even on the moon.

But suddenly the potential power of hacking becomes all the more apparent. There’s little to celebrate unless technology is safe and secure.

It seems that with all future technological innovation, there must be time and resources spent on making sure that they are immune to the tireless work of hackers.

In the meantime, both scientists, tech experts and those looking to get inside some of the most secure corners of the internet are going to be asking themselves the same question: can I hack it?

Watch Can I Hack it? – made possible by Mr. Robot on Amazon Prime.

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