In a new report, security experts warned that health tech is vulnerable to cyberattacks which could have ‘severe consequences’ for patient safety.
The RAENG warned that the number of the number of healthcare devices which are susceptible to hacking is growing which not only poses a threat to individuals, but also provides a way to gain access to entire networks.
The experts cautioned that pacemakers or wearable health monitors which are linked up to the internet or internal computer networks could also provide a gateway for hackers to plant ransomware into systems, potentially crippling in the NHS or government departments.
Some US hospitals have already been infected by the Wannacry and Medjack computer viruses after hackers targeted medical devices which were not protected.
Professor Nick Jennings, a fellow of the RAENG and Vice Provost atImperial College London said: “There is genuine harm that can be harm through poor cyber security on medical devices, on future connected homes on autonomous vehicle and if they are not dealt with then that will lead to harm and deaths.
“There are vulnerabilities in a range of connected medical devices. Dick Cheyney famously changed the settings on his pacemaker because he wanted to make sure he wasn’t vulnerable to an attack and fans of Homeland will know that’s how they killed off the president.
“Medical devices can also be used as a gateway into other parts of the network, so if a device is not well protected then it’s easy to go through one device to another devices.
“We cannot totally avoid failures or attacks, but we can design systems that are highly resilient and will recover quickly.”