According to a new survey conducted by Irdeto and Censuswide, 15% of healthcare technology providers admit having no knowledge or awareness of the new cybersecurity regulations such as US FDA premarket guidelines. The same respondents also stated that regulatory compliance is the most important factor driving companies to have a water-tight cybersecurity strategy for their products and solutions, emphasizing the need for partnering with external cybersecurity experts to help decipher and navigate imminent security requirements.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the connected health and medical technology revolution with increased remote patient care prioritization. Medical facilities globally are under extreme pressure with their key focus on patient health and safety, leaving devices and facilities vulnerable to malicious attacks from opportunistic malcontents. There is no doubt that threats are high and attacks imminent but only 18% of respondents believed their organization's medical device cybersecurity to be strong.

 

With the connected health industry evolving with advancements including better customer and patient outcomes, improved data-driven decision making and an increase in take-up and trust, the question in the industry remains whether enough is being done to mitigate the risks associated with devices and services that harness the internet to communicate during the care lifecycle. If healthcare technology providers are unaware of their vulnerabilities, a proactive approach to cybersecurity and regulatory standards is needed to ensure patient’s health and data are not comprised.

 

Irdeto’s healthcare survey revealed that 60% of respondents feel their organization needs to implement a more robust cybersecurity strategy to prevent or protect themselves from cyber threats and more notably just under half believed they needed to partner with a third-party cybersecurity company to do so. By partnering with a third-party cybersecurity company, healthcare technology providers will have not only access to security assurances but will also have expertise at the design and development stage of the devices – making for more robust and secure technology, ensuring compliance to all regulations. Additionally, 65% of healthcare technology providers believed they needed to allocate additional budget to cybersecurity concerns to protect themselves from threats.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the connected medical technology revolution with remote patient care prioritized as never before. But as the reports reveals, the pandemic has also exposed the weaknesses in the healthcare industry’s cybersecurity and as a result, the industry has seen an increased number of attacks with serious consequences”, said Steeve Huin, CMO and Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Irdeto.

 

You can access the Irdeto healthcare report ‘The business value of cybersecurity in MedTech’ by by clicking here.