The paranoia is strong with former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has had the ability to access his implanted defibrillator with WiFi turned off due to the possibility of terrorists using it against him.

Dick Cheney, who has a had five heart attacks so far and recently had his defibrillator replaced as of 2007, revealed this bit of news Sunday, on CBC’s 60 Minutes. What’s more is that he seems to have gotten the idea, in part at least, from Showtime’s critically acclaimed Homeland series. The show had a similar assassination plot scenario.

“I found it credible.  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,” he said during the 60 Minutes interview.

To be fair to the sometimes unpopular former Vice President, the US Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team has cautioned rather recently that devices such as the implanted defibrillator contain back-doors that could potentially be hacked. Ole Dick is only taking precautions.

[via arstechnica, image via Gage Skidmore flickr]