Medical device manufacturers and healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) could be the target of cyber attack for the next 12 months, a new survey found.
While several companies are concerned about the next massive cyber attack, the majority of manufacturers are still unprepared. The survey reveals that only 17 percent of HDOs have moved to prevent the possible cyber attacks. The study was conducted by the Ponemon Institute. They have surveyed more than 550 healthcare delivery companies and medical device manufacturers.
Only 25 percent of respondents believe that security protocols in medical devices give sufficient security for patients and clinician, while 80 percent thinks that difficulties in securing medical devices are due to lack of preparation of a cyber attack. Additionally, the survey discovered that many companies do not make efforts to check if their devices are vulnerable to attack.
53 percent of HDO participants said that there is no conducted security testing on devices, and 45 percent are uncertain if a test was conducted. Meanwhile, 43 percent of medical device manufacturer answered that they are not testing their devices for security risks.
Earlier in this month, WannaCry ransomware attacks thousands of computer systems worldwide, especially National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England. Medical devices were also found to be at risk by the ransomware and several medical device vendors were warned on the possible threat of the infection.
During the WannaCry attack, the Health Information Trust Alliance issued a report suggesting that medical device manufacturers like Siemens - a German electronics maker - were compromised. The alliance also implicated German company, Bayer, saying that devices from its subsidiary MedRad are infected as well, which produces medical devices like MRI, PET, CT scans.