A survey of 400 IT professionals found that most people are worried about the possibility of data leaks and attacks using medical equipment.

Author: Jonathan Gregg | November 10, 2021 | Topic: Cyber ​​Threats

According to a survey conducted by the cybersecurity company Armis, IT professionals have found that cyber risks have increased in the past 12 months.

Armis and Censuswide spoke with 400 IT professionals working in US healthcare organizations and 2,030 general respondents, and found that nearly 60% of IT respondents had dealt with ransomware in their organizations in the past year event.  

According to Armis, approximately 430 million connected medical devices have been deployed worldwide, which makes many hospitals vulnerable to various cybersecurity vulnerabilities such as pneumatic pipes, technologies used in HVAC systems, B. Braun infusion pumps, and so on.

More than 32% of general respondents said that they had been victims of healthcare cybersecurity attacks, and IT professionals said that they were most worried about the common hospital data breaches in recent years. 

More than half of IT respondents said that data breaches that led to the breach of confidential patient data are the most concerned issue. After the data breach, 23% of IT professionals were most worried about attacks on hospital operations, and 13% believed that ransomware attacks were a problem. 

According to 54% of IT professionals, from a cyber security perspective, building systems such as HVAC and electrical equipment pose the greatest risk, followed by imaging machines, dispensing equipment, check-in kiosks, and vital signs monitoring equipment.

Fortunately, many IT respondents stated that their healthcare organization is taking steps to make cybersecurity a priority. Of these, 86% of the respondents said that their organization has hired a CISO, and 95% of the respondents said Their connected devices have the latest software installed. 

But 75% said that recent attacks are the driving force behind changes in network security. More than half of IT employees said their healthcare organization is allocating more funds to protect the system. 

More than 62% of respondents stated that their healthcare organization had to submit a cyber insurance claim. 

Oscar Miranda, Chief Technology Officer of Armis Healthcare, said: "The continued visibility, context, and consistency of security analysis and enterprise risk is a beacon we need to turn to to improve the way we look at equipment and asset management." 

“When considering safety, healthcare organizations must consider the entire patient journey. A strong healthcare safety strategy is multifaceted and requires a comprehensive perspective.”

From the perspective of potential patients, nearly half of the respondents said that if they knew that their hospital was attacked by ransomware, they would change hospitals, and 37% of respondents were worried that hospitals would use online portals to obtain patient information. 

The investigation follows a report by Forescout Technologies and Medigate, which stated that there were more than a dozen vulnerabilities in Siemens software, affecting approximately 4,000 devices produced by a series of vendors. CNN first reported that these vulnerabilities affect the version of Nucleus' real-time operating system, which manages patient monitors, anesthesia tools, ultrasound machines, and X-ray equipment.

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