Armis, a leading asset visibility and security company, has released new research identifying the top connected medical and IoT devices that are exposed to malicious activity in clinical environments. Data analysed from the Armis Asset Intelligence and Security Platform – which tracks over three billion assets – found nurse call systems to be the riskiest IoMT device, followed by infusion pumps and medication dispensing systems. When looking at IoT devices, IP cameras, printers and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) devices are topping the list.
By 2026 smart hospitals are expected to deploy over 7 million IoMT devices – doubling the amount from 2021. Medical and non-medical devices are increasingly connected, automatically feeding patient data from monitoring devices into electronic records. These connections and communications within a medical environment help improve patient care but also make it increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks, which could result in the interruption of patient care.
“These numbers are a strong indicator of the challenges faced by healthcare organisations globally. Advances in technology are essential to improve the speed and quality of care delivery as the industry is challenged with a shortage of care providers, but with increasingly connected care comes a bigger attack surface,” said Mohammad Waqas, Principal Solutions Architect for Healthcare at Armis. “Protecting every type of connected device, medical, IoT, even the building management systems, with full visibility and continuous contextualised monitoring is a key element to ensuring patient safety.”