One of the core steps involved in healthcare cybersecurity is medical device vulnerability management. Medical device vulnerability management centers around identifying, analyzing, and mitigating vulnerabilities within medical devices. As more and more devices become interconnected through the IoMT (Internet of Medical Things), the safety of patients and integrity of healthcare systems is paramount.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what medical device vulnerability management involves and why it’s important to help safeguard critical medical devices and sensitive patient data.
What’s Involved in Medical Device Vulnerability Management?
The main steps in medical device vulnerability management involve creating an inventory as a baseline of current medical devices, monitoring for potential risks, and planning how best to respond.
Detailed Asset Inventory
The first step is to create a detailed inventory of all currently connected medical devices. This involves collecting information such as:
- Device type
- Operating system
- IP and MAC addresses
- Software version
- Network connection(s)
- Any known vulnerabilities (for example CVE associated with specific devices)
Having an accurate inventory helps healthcare organizations monitor devices and quickly spot any potential vulnerabilities before they can wreak havoc on the system.
Ongoing Monitoring and Risk Assessment
Incorporating real-time monitoring allows IT professionals and staff to quickly detect and mitigate any unusual device behaviors or unauthorized access attempts. Ongoing risk assessments using vulnerability scanning and threat intelligence help analyze the security posture of different devices such as MRIs, insulin pumps and ventilators. Depending on the severity of the risk, different steps can then be implemented to quickly and efficiently solve the issue.
Patch Management
Installing patches, software updates, and device firmware is a must. Having a comprehensive patch management process also helps make sure that patches are applied promptly. This in turn minimizes the window of opportunity for threat actors to exploit open vulnerabilities in equipment and devices.
Network Segmentation
Dividing the network into isolated segments prevents threats from moving laterally to infect other areas. This lets organizations contain potential breaches before they spread, helping to protect critical healthcare systems.
Incident Response Planning
Keeping a regularly-updated incident response plan (designed specifically for medical devices) helps keep IT staff and administrators prepared in the event of a security breach. Such a response plan should include defined roles, communication protocols and recovery procedures.
Incorporating Medical Device Vulnerability Management
The benefits of a proactive, highly-tuned medical device vulnerability management can ripple out to affect the entire healthcare system infrastructure as a whole. By proactively managing vulnerabilities, healthcare providers can help stop or prevent security incidents that could compromise device functionality.
Adhering to regular medical device vulnerability management best practices helps organizations stay on top of healthcare regulations and industry standards, sidestepping potential legal and financial penalties. Ongoing vulnerability management also reduces the chances that devices will need to be taken offline due to cyber attacks. This lets crucial devices continue to provide uninterrupted patient care.
How Can Cylera Help?
Cylera provides a variety of cutting-edge solutions that help healthcare systems large and small proactively spot, address, contain and handle cybersecurity threats. As more and more devices become interconnected and incorporate online features, there’s no better time to start working with a company that’s dedicated to safeguarding vital healthcare information.
Automated Discovery of IoMT Devices
Cylera automatically identifies and catalogs all connected medical devices, including detailed information such as the device type, model, operating system, network connections and more.
Ongoing Monitoring and Threat Detection
Using a combination of advanced analytics and machine learning, Cylera can monitor device behavior in real-time, detecting and flagging anomalies and potential security threats quickly.
Risk Assessment and Vulnerability Management
Cylera conducts ongoing risk assessment, spotting vulnerabilities and offering actionable insights that help IT staff mitigate threats based on the severity of the detected issue.
Network Segmentation and Protection
Through detailed device context and communication patterns, Cylera helps administrators segment their networks in an intuitive and intelligent way, containing potential breaches and helping to prevent unauthorized access.
Compliance Support
Cylera provides detailed tools that help healthcare companies and organizations stay compliant with regulations through detailed visibility, tracking and security threat management, all of which are needed for local and national audits.
Getting Started with Cylera
For healthcare organizations that are looking for a centralized hub to manage their most mission-critical devices while safeguarding patient data and vital infrastructure, getting started with Cylera is a smart decision. Request a demo to better understand the platform’s capabilities in line with current and future needs and explore how Cylera can help address specific challenges your organization is currently facing.
Cylera’s initial assessment provides a detailed view of your organization’s current IoMT environment, including medical device inventory, potential vulnerabilities and risks, and device communication pathways. This allows our team to understand the network infrastructure and make suggestions on how better to strengthen vulnerable points that could be used as attack vectors.
Once the assessment is complete, Cylera’s platform is deployed. This process is designed to be seamless and needs no additional hardware or significant resources to be put into place. It integrates with existing systems and offers immediate visibility into the connected device ecosystem.
From there, we configure and customize solutions unique to your organization. This may include:
- Setting up device monitoring and analytics.
- Configuring risk prioritization and reporting dashboards.
- Establishing network segmentation strategies and compliance workflows.
We then offer training and onboarding for IT, security and clinical engineering teams. This keeps all involved stakeholders involved and abreast of how to use the platform effectively while interpreting insights and acting on recommendations.
With Cylera, you can continually monitor medical devices and networks as well as potential vulnerabilities in real-time. The system is designed to provide ongoing support and updates while giving access to threat intelligence so that your organization can strengthen and optimize the security of all of its IoMT devices.
Request a demo today to learn more about how we help healthcare organizations of all sizes stay informed and stay one step ahead of today’s most advanced threats.
