Medical Devices Security
Technology continues to transform the way healthcare is delivered, the growing security risks inherent in the growth of medical devices and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), are increasingly connected to hospital networks, the internet and other medical facilities. The cyber threat is not only to the protection of sensitive medical data, but the number one priority is to ensure patient’s safety and lives.
Revolutionising Medical Device Management
According to Frost & Sullivan’s Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) forecast to 2021 report, 20 billion to 30 billion connected IoT and medical devices are expected to be a part of the healthcare ecosystem.
This explosion of connected devices in the already vulnerable healthcare industry is a growing concern for healthcare providers, medical device manufacturers, the government, and the public at large.
Due to the distinctive clinical nature of most medical devices, there are several challenges involved in the identification, evaluation, and eventual remediation of these devices. While medical devices come with a “one size does not fit all”, they generally share the same features as other devices connected to an organisation’s network, including:
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Potentially vulnerable operating system.
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Electronic protected health information (ePHI) transmitted across the network to multiple devices.
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Wired and wireless technologies capabilities.
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Internet access availability.
It is important to understand that there are also some unique differences between medical devices and other devices on these internal networks:
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Many medical devices do not have protection or the capability for third-party software installation (e.g. anti-virus or end-point encryption).
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No procedures to patch security vulnerabilities or inconsistency in the process, often requiring the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) approval prior to any software updates.
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Medical devices are often connected directly to patients meaning that they ‘could’ put patient care at risk, if not managed correctly.
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Medical devices’ operating systems tend to be older than current supported operating systems.
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Upgrading or patching medical devices could render them inoperable, placing patient care and data at risk.
As medical devices become ever more sophisticated, the need for effective cyber security to assure the functionality and safety of the medical devices becomes increasingly more important.
Cyber Risks in Medical Technology
Securing medical devices begins in the design phase and should be considered throughout the system development lifecycle (SDLC) process. We have extensive experience of performing risk assessments on a wide range of networked devices:
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Map the system topology into a dataflow describing the relationships between all system components and identify threats across the entire system architecture to identify the whole system’s attack surface and evaluate the impact and risk of each threat.
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Identify all system components with functional security requirements (e.g. authentication, access control, validation, transport layer security, etc.).
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Evaluate the suitability and risk of the functional security solutions for these requirements, if they exist.
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Evaluate the system’s resilience to volatile across its features and interfaces.
We provide a comprehensive security assessment that looks at the security posture and ensure a minimum benchmark and secure baseline for device design and implementation. Medical devices are notoriously vulnerable to cyber-attacks because security is often an afterthought when the devices are designed, deployed and maintained by the manufacturer.
The Benefits of Managed Health Devices
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Identification and inventory management of IoMT, IoT, and Medical Device Assets in Real Time.
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Automated Detection of Devices and Vulnerabilities for Optimal Patient Safety, Availability and Data Security.
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Comprehensive Risk and Threat Mitigation for Unparalleled Security for the protection of IoMT, IoT, and Medical Devices.
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Simplified Deployment and Seamless Integration with a wide range of security tools, enhancing the effectiveness of your security stack.
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Experience the Next Level of Asset Management and Security for IoMT, IoT, OT, unmanaged IT, and Medical Devices.
Equip your organisation with the expertise and valuable insights to manage IoMT, IoT, and medical devices. Take the initiative to strengthen your cyber security today by contacting us to learn more and adopt a proactive approach.