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Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president recently revealed that he had his heart implant modified for the fear of terrorist attack.

Five years back Mr Cheney’s doctor disabled the heart defibrillator’s wireless function so that it would prevent would-be assassins from interfering with it and causing a fatal heart attack, BBC reported.

The interesting part is that a similar scenario was also featured in an episode of the TV series Homeland.

“I found it credible,” Mr Cheney told CBS TV’s 60 Minutes programme according to BBC.

"I know from the experience we had, and the necessity for adjusting my own device, that it was an accurate portrayal of what was possible,’’ added Mr Cheney.

“Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs) can be vulnerable to a range of electronic signals,” said Adrian Culley, global technical consultant for security company Damballa according to BBC.

“Research has been undertaken which shows it is entirely feasible to potentially exploit someone’s ICD, given close proximity to the individual.”

An ICD monitors the heartbeat and if it detects any irregularity in the rhythm, it send a low-energy electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal state.

In 2008, researchers from the University of Washington and Harvard Medical School claimed that they had discovered a way to carry out software radio-based attacks on ICDs that could “compromise patient safety and patient privacy”.

“Since the experiments in 2008, experts have acknowledged that greater security of these devices is required, and encryption has been introduced to prevent the loss of personal data,” a spokesman for the Institute of Risk Management told the BBC.

"As with all electronic devices, the possibility of targeted hacking still exists given the right physical situation, expert knowledge of the device and the necessary equipment.

“However, it is much more likely that a strong electromagnetic field will cause the device to malfunction,” he said according to BBC.