Image Teltonika.it
By Jennifer Somers
The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming a top area of concern in the field of healthcare. What does IoT refer to and why is healthcare so affected by it?
IoT is a general term that refers to all “smart” physical devices that are connected to the internet and collect and share data via the connection. Examples of “smart” devices include thermostats, cameras, industrial systems, power grids, medical devices in hospitals, and many more. The problem, according to many industry experts, is that many of these devices were never intended to be controlled in this way.
One market that seems to be pressured by its vendors to adopt to IoT devices the most is the healthcare industry. According to one estimate, the IoT medical market could reach $117 billion by the end of the decade. The types of medical devices that are currently or will soon be “smart” include pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators, insulin pumps, IV pumps, and heart-lung machines, amongst others.
The advantages of utilizing these types of devices in health care is obvious – the devices could detect medical problems and potentially even administer a treatment without the assistance of a doctor. Plus, there are financial benefits to these types of devices. Healthcare facilities are not paying someone to check, start, or stop devices every time they are used. This reduces salary costs for these facilities in the long-term.
A Boston firm, BitSight, that ranks companies for their level of cybersecurity compared 5 industries and they found, of the five (healthcare, finance, retail, utilities, and federal agencies), healthcare came in last place.
So, why does healthcare have the largest struggle with IoT security? It is primarily because so many of their “smart” devices run on such old software that the manufacturer no longer releases firmware updates for them. This forces administrators to leave old, out-of-date devices on the network that are unable to communicate.
Old “smart” devices often do not have large enough processors or memory to react quickly enough to process even simple security commands. These old devices discourage administrators from updating the firmware on them, as updating could potentially create huge problems in other areas of the network. In other words, to secure the healthcare industry, many devices need to be regularly updated or replaced.
The recent WannaCry attack was a great indicator of how updated the healthcare industry is as a whole. Hopefully the attack provided the nudge administrators and those who hold the purse strings needed to start to move away from outdated devices. Until cybersecurity is viewed as a legitimate and immediate concern, we will continue to receive news of new attacks.
Mnemonix takes security very seriously. We always welcome an opportunity to learn about your security concerns. Give us a call @ 616-588-7740 to schedule some time to share them with us.
By Jennifer Somers
The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming a top area of concern in the field of healthcare. What does IoT refer to and why is healthcare so affected by it?
IoT is a general term that refers to all “smart” physical devices that are connected to the internet and collect and share data via the connection. Examples of “smart” devices include thermostats, cameras, industrial systems, power grids, medical devices in hospitals, and many more. The problem, according to many industry experts, is that many of these devices were never intended to be controlled in this way.
One market that seems to be pressured by its vendors to adopt to IoT devices the most is the healthcare industry. According to one estimate, the IoT medical market could reach $117 billion by the end of the decade. The types of medical devices that are currently or will soon be “smart” include pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators, insulin pumps, IV pumps, and heart-lung machines, amongst others.
The advantages of utilizing these types of devices in health care is obvious – the devices could detect medical problems and potentially even administer a treatment without the assistance of a doctor. Plus, there are financial benefits to these types of devices. Healthcare facilities are not paying someone to check, start, or stop devices every time they are used. This reduces salary costs for these facilities in the long-term.
A Boston firm, BitSight, that ranks companies for their level of cybersecurity compared 5 industries and they found, of the five (healthcare, finance, retail, utilities, and federal agencies), healthcare came in last place.
So, why does healthcare have the largest struggle with IoT security? It is primarily because so many of their “smart” devices run on such old software that the manufacturer no longer releases firmware updates for them. This forces administrators to leave old, out-of-date devices on the network that are unable to communicate.
Old “smart” devices often do not have large enough processors or memory to react quickly enough to process even simple security commands. These old devices discourage administrators from updating the firmware on them, as updating could potentially create huge problems in other areas of the network. In other words, to secure the healthcare industry, many devices need to be regularly updated or replaced.
The recent WannaCry attack was a great indicator of how updated the healthcare industry is as a whole. Hopefully the attack provided the nudge administrators and those who hold the purse strings needed to start to move away from outdated devices. Until cybersecurity is viewed as a legitimate and immediate concern, we will continue to receive news of new attacks.
Mnemonix takes security very seriously. We always welcome an opportunity to learn about your security concerns. Give us a call @ 616-588-7740 to schedule some time to share them with us.
RSS Feed
