As hospitals deal with increasingly sophisticated ransomware and cybercriminal organizations, medical devicemakers are working to protect their devices from hackers, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 13.
Individual medical devices are unlikely to be the target of an attack. However, they can be used as a jumping-off point to spread malware.
A survey of 500 healthcare executives from the Ponemon Institute found that 56 percent experienced a cyberattack targeting an internet-connected device over the past 24 months.
In December, the FDA set minimum cybersecurity standards for medical devices.
“A lot of companies would go and create this awesome solution and then try to bolt security on after the fact. I think people are finally starting to realize they can’t do that,” Jesse Kinser, chief information security officer at healthcare-technology company LifeOmic Holdings, told the Journal. “We need people and these manufacturers to understand that the health and security of these devices is just as critical as the patients that they’re supporting.”
