Ever since hospitals became connected to the internet, the shadow of cyber risk has loomed over them. This year, that shadow has become darker and larger than ever before. Ransomware specifically designed for maximum leverage on hospital systems has been used in coordinated attacks intended to endanger the lives of patients and extort as much money as possible from stakeholders. What can be done to stop patient outcomes from being transformed into bargaining chips by cybercriminals?
With our new white paper, Securing Medical Devices with Trust Lists: Urgent Protection for Healthcare Centers, we show how to create resilient, long-term defenses for the life-critical attack surfaces presented by healthcare devices. We demonstrate the methodology of a new and insidious kind of malware that is frequently tailored to hospital attacks, and we share a model of how straightforward and reliable cybersecurity methods can simplify and optimize defenses, even for the most complicated healthcare facility. Only the most up-to-date technological practices can secure fixed-use systems in the fast-changing environment of the IT-OT convergence.
Because modern medical devices come internet-ready and are rarely secure by design, any one of them – or the interfaces used to operate them – could serve as an open door to threat actors’ attacks or a hiding place for malware. Such attacks are also likely to be based on direct interference in the near future. For example, medical sensors and monitoring devices could be caused to show misleading results, triggering false emergencies or masking urgent situations from the eyes of caregivers. In essence, cybercriminals are ready and willing to do whatever they consider necessary to wring the largest possible dollar amounts from stakeholders, including triggering emergencies or interfering with life-critical situations in an attempt to secure a fast payout.
It is our sincere wish that the information in this white paper can protect patient outcomes and hospital functionality from disruption by even the most dedicated bad actors. Read it here.
