The medical device doesn't need to run Windows Update. The medical device might still be bricked if the computer accessing the device runs Windows Update. Yes,

The medical device doesn't need to run Windows Update. The medical device might still be bricked if the computer accessing the device runs Windows Update. Yes, exactly. I used to work at a sub-contractor for a large manufacturer of medical equipment, and all the systems we dealt with were like that. The device would run a very small embedded OS but would have a serial port for talking to a PC for firmware development, firmware updates, logging, diagnostics, etc. Their older stuff used real hardware serial ports, but their newer systems (~6-7 years ago now) were moving to virtual USB/FTDI serial ports, with an FTDI chip included in the embedded system. These tricky FTDI drivers would absolutely have the potential to brick and/or alter the operation of such a device; it's not far-fetched or a flight of fancy at all. I have a special interest in this thread/issue because I have recently been contacted by that manufacturer regarding one of these FTDI-using systems which has recently begun to exhibit new problems. I haven't started looking into that yet, and I don't know where it will lead, but I'll have to bear in mind the possibility of deliberate driver-based monkey-business now.