The healthcare industry and its patients have benefited greatly from the Healthcare Internet of Things (IoT), the wide-ranging collection of medical gadgets that can connect to a network and help improve patient care in real time.

Every day, millions of these medical devices connect to hospital networks, where they generate, transfer and store protected health information (PHI) as well as data from other electronic health records (EHR), clinical workstations and smart hospital applications.

While these advancements bring remarkable advancements to patient care, data collection and remote monitoring, they also introduce significant cyberthreats. Connected devices can represent a large percentage of devices on a Healthcare Delivery Organization’s network, according to a report by Cisco, but 53 percent of those connected medical and other IoT devices in hospitals have a known critical vulnerability.

And the need for better security is even more imminent than it seems: Healthcare is the most-targeted industry for cyberattacks, with the current average cost of a breach at $9.77 million.

It can happen fast. Hackers might use an unprotected infusion pump on the network as a gateway to a hospital’s data. A staff member might unknowingly download a malicious PDF attachment from an email. Or perhaps a virus has been lurking undetected in your network for some time.

Securing an ever-changing and complex IT infrastructure can be overwhelming. With the expanding attack surface in healthcare, threats are getting more serious — and healthcare organizations must find ways to address them.

Here is how healthcare data is vulnerable to these threats.

Weak security of IoT devices
Many IoT devices in healthcare are designed with functionality in mind and often lack robust security measures. Default passwords, outdated firmware and weak encryption can make them easy targets for hackers.

Sensitive data exposure
Healthcare IoT devices collect vast amounts of sensitive data, including personal health information (PHI), which is highly valuable on the black market. A breach can expose patient records, leading to identity theft, insurance fraud or even personal harm.

Ransomware attacks
Ransomware can target IoT devices, taking control of them or locking healthcare professionals out of critical systems until a ransom is paid. This can directly impact patient care, delaying treatment or potentially disabling life-saving devices.

Data integrity threats
Attackers can alter the data collected by IoT devices, leading to incorrect diagnoses or treatments. For example, tampered readings from heart monitors or glucose monitors can have life-threatening consequences.

Legacy systems
Some healthcare organizations may rely on outdated or unpatched systems that are not built to integrate securely with modern IoT devices, further increasing the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited.

DDoS attacks
Compromised IoT devices can be used in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, overwhelming hospital systems and rendering critical services inoperable, leaving patient wellbeing in the balance.

Lack of standardization
The absence of unified security standards for healthcare IoT devices makes it difficult to secure all endpoints consistently. Different vendors may have varying levels of security protocols, leading to inconsistencies in device protection.

Supply chain vulnerabilities
Healthcare IoT devices often rely on third-party components and software. A compromised supply chain can introduce malware or vulnerabilities into devices, compromising them before they are even deployed.

What can you do to protect your organization and patients?

Step 1: Identify
It’s hard to protect something if you don’t know what or where it is. To understand the risks to systems, assets, data and capabilities, you need visibility into what is on your network, who is using network-connected devices, when network access is requested, and where the request is coming from.

Step 2: Protect
Deploying safeguards against inevitable cyberattacks is crucial. Protection can include everything from enforcing access control to managing data confidentiality. Firewalls are foundational to having the industry’s most complete and open security platform. With world-class security controls, consistent policy and visibility, and the ability to integrate network and security, your healthcare organization can reduce costs and complexity.

Step 3: Engage a professional
An end-to-end IT solutions provider can help shore up vulnerabilities to cyberthreats and implement security measures to keep your organization and patients safe, while also fulfilling obligations to HIPAA and other industry standards.

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