Hospitals push device makers to improve security following cyberattacks
As the kinds of cyber attacks companies and other businesses are experiencing expand, we are seeing the actual victims, as well as potential ones of these attacks, step up their efforts to protect themselves. In hospitals, one of the areas of focus is internet connected equipment, but we can see how this will quickly spill over to the burgeoning Internet of Things and larger 5G markets, igniting a new round of demand for companies that fall within the parameters of our Safety & Security investing theme.
Hospitals are pushing medical-device makers to improve cyber defenses of their internet-connected infusion pumps, biopsy imaging tables and other health-care products as reports of attacks rise.
Rattled by recent global cyberattacks, U.S. hospitals are conducting tests to detect weaknesses in specific devices, and asking manufacturers to reveal the proprietary software running the products in order to identify vulnerabilities. In some cases, hospitals have canceled orders and rejected bids for devices that lacked safety features.
Hospitals, after a decade of racing to wire up their medical records and an explosion of internet-connected medical devices, are growing more aggressive with technology suppliers amid pressure to better defend against incursions that could threaten patients and cause costly disruptions. Credit-rating agency Moody’s Investors Service in February ranked hospitals as one of the sectors most vulnerable to cyberattacks.
In stepping up their efforts, hospitals have gone beyond building firewalls and taking other actions to shield their own networks—they have moved into demanding information like the software running devices that manufacturers have long considered proprietary. The requests have generated tensions between the sides.
Source: Rattled by Cyberattacks, Hospitals Push Device Makers to Improve Security – WSJ
