The Importance of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices is Increasing
Today, medical devices play a vital role in monitoring patients’ health and managing their treatment processes. Medical devices have become part of a broader healthcare ecosystem by being integrated into hospital networks and internet connections. However, this makes medical devices vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Cyber Security
Risks That May Occur in Case of Deficiency
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Patient Safety: Cyberattacks on medical devices can directly compromise patient safety. For example, a cyber attacker’s manipulation of a pacemaker or insulin pump could threaten a patient’s life.
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Data Privacy: Medical devices often collect and transmit patients’ personal health data. If this data is compromised in a cyberattack, it could lead to a breach of patient privacy and potentially identity theft.
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Service Interruptions: Continuity of healthcare depends on the uninterrupted operation of medical devices. Cyber attacks can disrupt the functionality of these devices, disrupting healthcare services and delaying critical treatments.
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Financial Losses: Cyberattacks can result in significant financial losses for medical device manufacturers. Data breaches and device failures can result in both direct costs and reputational damage.
Worldwide
Cyber Security Incident Examples
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Johnson & Johnson Insulin Pump Exploit
Date: December 6, 2016
Johnson & Johnson has acknowledged the risk of cyberattacks on Animas "OneTouch Ping" model insulin pumps and sent letters to patients stating that they are taking precautions.
Vulnerabilities:
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Although the devices operated in a closed circuit, it was possible for information to be blocked or changed while being sent to the doctor online.
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Security researcher Jay Radcliffe, who has type 1 diabetes, noted the lack of encryption on the device and said this vulnerability allowed insulin doses to be changed remotely.
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Researcher Barnaby Jack stated that these pumps could be stopped from 90 meters.
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WannaCry Attack
Date: May 12, 2017
It was a large-scale cyber attack that infected 230,000 computers in 99 countries, demanding ransom in 28 languages. This ransomware encrypts the files on the infected computer and demands a ransom to restore access. Europol described the attack as "unprecedented".
Effect:
The attack affected major organizations such as Telefónica in Spain, the UK National Health Service (NHS), FedEx, and Deutsche Bahn. Many other organizations were also affected, such as the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and MegaFon.
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St. Jude Medical Pacemaker Vulnerability
Date: September 24, 2017
Approximately 456,000 pacemaker users in the U.S. have been advised to contact their doctors to obtain a critical software update for their devices. Abbott Laboratories has discovered critical vulnerabilities in some pacemakers that could allow someone nearby to take control of the devices. This was announced in a joint call with the FDA.
Vulnerability Details:
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In the event of a successful attack, an unauthorized person could send commands to the device via radio frequency (RF) transmission.
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Because pacemakers were equipped with small radio components, they could be checked and updated without being removed.
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The flaw meant that someone with the right technical knowledge could change the device's settings or stop it from working.
ENISA Threat Status Reports
2020 and 2021:
"Cyber Attacks Are Becoming More Complex, Targeted, Pervasive and Undetectable"
So How Can We Secure Our Organization?
The basis of cyber attacks is the discovery and exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Preventing the discovery of security vulnerabilities, which is the first step in cyber attacks, is the most effective method against a potential attack.
Isolator
Your Most Effective Defense Tool Against Cyber Attacks
The Isolator system is a service/server security layer. It provides more controlled access to servers and services offered to specific users over the Internet by keeping them hidden from public view.
How Does Isolator Work?
Isolator IP'ler üzerinden çalışan hizmetlerinizin, izole bir ortama alınarak siber saldırı zincirinin ilk halkası olan hazırlık evresinde görünmesini engeller.
Böylelikle potansiyel bir saldırı, henüz baÅŸlamadan bertaraf edilmiÅŸ olur.
Isolator makes you invisible to cyber attackers.
