MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Tasked with evaluating various hospitals’ digital defenses, security expert and professional hacker Scott Erven found that sensitive networks are rife with vulnerabilities that could leave the entire system exposed.
These hospitals networks are "leaking" information, Erven said, allowing motivated hackers to examine the system and figure out ways to access various devices. That could give intruders the power to steal information or even control technologies that sustain life, often because the computers are too old and their software hasn’t been updated to protect against known viruses and vulnerabilities.
"It goes to show that health care [organizations are] very sloppy in configuring their external edge networks and are not really taking security seriously," Erven told Wired.com.
Erven’s a so-called "white hat" hacker, using penetration-testing tools to find vulnerabilities in systems to that they can be patched before a malicious or "black hat" hacker exploits them. Erven runs information security for Essentia Health, a group with more than 100 facilities in 4 states, according to the report.
Read more of MassDevice.com’s coverage of medical device cybersecurity and hacking.
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