Why medical device security is a double edged sword?
The below doodle is self-explanatory to the problems medical device security face in the realm of industry, research and government. Most of the research aims at trying to improve the technical aspects of this double-edged sword with the industry and government aiming at the logistics.
A brief explanation of what I wanted to convey:
- The FDA and the Device manufactures are the ones that overpower all other factors and are at the top of this tradeoff.
- Reliability of medical devices tradesoff with security and resources, since we are dealing with severely constraint devices.
- With the advent of IoT medical devices in the near future, a whole threat of cyberattacks is looming.
- Other concerns include device specific attacks, emergency access to these medical devices if necessary and possible device access usages.
- Since humans are involved in the loop, it complicates matters adversely.
Very interesting!! It is quite worrisome that we leave the reliability and security of medical devices to those who have the least concern with its effects. What will it mean for device manufacturers, for example, if their devices get hacked? It's humans and providers who are most at risk. What will the FDA do to ensure that device manufacturers are secure? Do you have a link to this article/doodle?
ReplyDeleteHi Dr.Suzie,
ReplyDeleteI created the doodle. It is based on my readings and conclusions. I do have material on the FDA's take on medical device manufacturers and will upload the same soon.
Nice! How did you come up with these trade-off? It worries me that devices are left in the hands of the FDA. They don't such a great job regulating the pharma industry. Mostly they are understaffed, but they often have conflicts of interest at the top. Any thoughts about whether the FDA is effective in monitoring these devices? Keeping records is not the same as ensuring safe and reliable medical devices. Any further thoughts on this?
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