Medical device industry ‘not doing enough on cybersecurity’

The medical device industry appears to be under siege by cybercriminals, but it isn’t taking steps to defend itself, according to two separate reports.

Over the next 12 months, two-thirds of medical device manufacturers and more than half of healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) say that a cyber-attack on one or more medical devices built or in use by their organization is ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’.

Despite the threat, a survey by IT research organization the Ponemon Institute and chip security company Synopsis reveals that only 17% of device makers and 15% of HDOs are actively taking steps to tackle the problem, although a third were aware of the potential adverse effects to patients of an insecure medical device.