Medical Cyber Security

Medical Cyber Security is a global healthcare concern due to high profile cyber attacks which included malware, ransomware, social engineering and direct attacks.  For example, the WannaCry attacks impacted UK and US hospitals and have put the importance of medical device security.  Cyber security experts forecast that medical devices will become a significant focus for hackers to obtain valuable information on patients.  The average number of medical devices assigned to a hospital bed is in the range 10-15.  Most of these devices are connected to the internet of things (IOT) by wired or wireless networks.  However, medical device manufacturers (MDMs) were not required to account for the cyber security for their devices, resulting in them being an easy target for hackers. A major factor in preventing cyber crime is to update hospital computer systems which still use Windows 7, Windows XP and other relic systems which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and therefore pose a significant cyber security risk from WannaCry ransomware and malware.

Open Medscience