Dive Brief:
- Cyber threats to the medtech industry, including ransomware and other malware, are growing in sophistication potentially putting patient safety at risk, according to Kevin Fu, acting director of medical device cybersecurity at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
- “It’s not just a kid in their basement causing trouble. These are actually financially motivated intruders who are going after the low-hanging fruit,” Fu told the Food & Drug Law Institute annual conference last week. “Healthcare happens to be fairly low-hanging fruit when it comes to cybersecurity.”
- Sophisticated cybercriminals are targeting medical devices and as manufacturers increasingly use and depend on the cloud for real-time functions, Fu said the industry will likely see patient safety issues arise. “Everything is hackable,” the FDA device cyber chief declared, noting that ransomware in particular can render a device useless.
Dive Insight:
Cyber attacks on healthcare organizations, including ransomware and botnets, have jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and other facilities have been the victims of cybercriminals probing their networks…
