As healthcare providers use digital devices such as diagnostic and monitoring systems, ambulance equipment, and surgical robots to improve patient care, the security of those devices is as important as their primary function. Palo Alto Networks has announced Medical IoT Security the most comprehensive Zero Trust security solution for medical devices enabling healthcare organisations to deploy and manage new connected technologies quickly and securely. Zero Trust is a strategic approach to cybersecurity that secures an organisation by eliminating implicit trust by continuously verifying every user and device.
“The proliferation of connected medical devices in the healthcare industry brings a wealth of benefits, but these devices are often not well secured. For example, according to Unit 42, an alarming 75% of smart infusion pumps examined on the networks of hospitals and healthcare organisations had known security gaps,” says Anand Oswal, senior vice president of products, network security at Palo Alto Networks. “This makes security devices an attractive target for cyberattackers, potentially exposing patient data and ultimately putting patients at risk.”
While a Zero Trust approach is critical to help protect medical devices against today’s innovative cyberthreats, it can be hard to implement in practice. Through automated device discovery, contextual segmentation, least privilege policy recommendations and one-click enforcement of policies, Palo Alto Networks Medical IoT Security delivers a Zero Trust approach in a seamless, simplified manner. Medical IoT Security also provides threat protection through seamless integration with Palo Alto Networks cloud-delivered security services, such as Advanced Threat Prevention and Advanced URL Filtering.
The new Palo Alto Networks Medical IoT Security uses machine learning (ML) to enable healthcare organisations to:
Healthcare organisations are using Palo Alto Networks products to secure the devices that deliver cutting-edge care to millions of patients all over the world.
“Establishing and maintaining acute situational awareness of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) environment is paramount to establishing an effective enterprise cybersecurity program. The ability to accurately detect, identify and respond to cyber threats is critical to ensuring minimal operational impact to clinical operations during a cyber event,” says Tony Lakin, CISO, Moffitt Cancer Centre. “Palo Alto Networks IoT capability seamlessly integrates with our continuous monitoring processes and threat-hunting operations. The platform consistently provides my teams with actionable information to allow them to proactively manage the threat surface of our medical device portfolio.”
“With thousands of devices to manage, healthcare environments are extremely complex and require intelligent security solutions capable of doing more. Palo Alto Networks understands this requirement and is leveraging machine learning (ML) for Medical IoT security. Adding intelligence will enable providers to improve operational efficiency, which will enhance patient and practitioner experience and alleviate the burden of an ongoing IT skills shortage,” says Bob Laliberte, principal analyst, ESG.
“Healthcare providers continue to be high-value targets for attackers. This reality, combined with the diversity of medical IoT devices and their inherent vulnerabilities, points to a real need for device security that is purpose-built for healthcare use cases. The ability to defend against threats targeting critical care devices while maintaining operational availability and strengthening the alignment of device governance responsibilities between IT and Biomed engineering teams is quickly becoming a necessity for the protection of patient data and lives,” says Ed Lee, research director, IoT and Intelligent Edge Security, IDC.
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