MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Cybersecurity experts have been warning for years that the lack of cybersecurity in medical systems will lure more and more sophisticated hackers, but now they’re adding that The Big Hack probably isn’t far away.

Given the increase in hospitals’ use of internet-connected technologies, the relative inadequacy of digital defenses and the growing value of medical records on the internet’s black markets, a serious medical record hack is just on the horizon, experts

"What I think it’s going to lead to, if it hasn’t already, is an arms race between the criminal element and the people trying to protect health data," American Medical Assn. president Robert Wah told Politico. "I think the health data stewards are probably a little behind in the race. The criminal elements are incredibly sophisticated."

Read more of MassDevice.com’s coverage of medical device cybersecurity and hacking.

The message was similar during a June panel presentation at the National Institute of Standards & Technology’s Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board where medtech security researchers and policy experts warned that connectivity is far out-pacing security.

"These connected care environments are evolving far more rapidly than associated best practices," Medical Device Innovation, Safety & Security Consortium co-founder and executive director Dr. Dale Nordenberg said.

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