Todd Gifford, MBA 6/13/2012
tgifford@ermconsultinginc.com
“US warns of
cyber-attacks on medical devices”
A
man uses a robot to practice surgery in Melle on April 15, 2013. US authorities
on Thursday warned makers of medical devices and hospital networks to step up
efforts to guard against potential cyber attacks.
Can
you imagine the next episode of Criminal Minds you encounter, experiencing the
plot twist of the often overlooked, angry underling rising up to reach out and
commit murder by causing the wireless malfunction of the CEO’s perfectly
working internal cardiac device” internal defibulator”.It would prove disarming
if a medical device could be manipulated to cease performing it’s incredibly
important function being turned into an instrument of murder. The malfeasant
would soon be caught by the electronic foot print, for this I am sure but the
possibility is frightening none the less in light of the world in which we live
.
I
am comfortable with the math of Big Data, two plus two can equal 3.9 or
4.1. We accept these parameters not
because we rely on big data for the sole factor in our decision making but as
reinforcement for our collective theories toward improvement.
I
find it unnerving that Target a massive retailer can send correspondence to a
man that causes strong anger and resentment due to the giant retailer sending a
congratulations on being pregnant to his home targeting “no pun intended” his
teenage daughter barely out of Jr. High ,not even 16 years old yet for Heaven’s
Sake . The much upset father called the corporate office and complained at
length about the mistake.
He
felt all the worst when he had to pick up the phone and call the individual he
reamed and apologized because it seems his young daughter was indeed pregnant.
Kindly explain how Target can know more about a Fathers Household than the
Patriarch himself. How do they have the ability to know so much about us? Data
mining big data is the easy answer.
To
truly understand the scope is beyond my humble mind , but it does make for a
genuinely Scary Story.
AFP
- US
authorities on Thursday warned makers of medical devices and hospital networks
to step up efforts to guard against potential cyber attacks.
The
US Food and Drug Administration said implanted devices, which could include
pacemakers or defibrillators, could be connected to networks that are
vulnerable to hackers.
An
FDA warning notice was sent to medical device manufacturers, hospitals, medical
device user facilities, health care technical staff and biomedical engineers.
It
said the agency has recently "become aware of cybersecurity
vulnerabilities and incidents that could directly impact medical devices or
hospital network operations."
"The
FDA is recommending that medical device manufacturers and health care
facilities take steps to assure that appropriate safeguards are in place to
reduce the risk of failure due to cyberattack," the warning said.
These
devices or systems could be compromised "by the introduction of malware
into the medical equipment or unauthorized access to configuration settings in
medical devices and hospital networks," the FDA said.
"This
may sound like it is out of a science fiction movie, but the threat is
conceivably a serious one," said Jon Ogg at 24/7 Wall Street.
"Can
you imagine a device being retooled maliciously, like an inserted
pacemaker/defibrillator? Or imagine if a robotic surgery system was maliciously
recalibrated in even a slight manner for surgeries.
"The
list of threats is endless."
The
FDA said it was "not aware of any patient injuries or deaths associated
with these incidents" nor does it have any specific information on
targeted devices.
The
FDA said it had been working with other federal agencies as well as manufacturers,
which it said are "responsible for remaining vigilant about identifying
risks and hazards associated with their medical devices."
Among
the measures that should be taken, the FDA said, are limiting unauthorized
device access, "particularly for those devices that are life-sustaining or
could be directly connected to hospital networks."
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