Healthcare security professionals have their hands full with protecting Internet of Things devices from attacks. There are many ways to safeguard IoT devices in healthcare. But infosec pros can benefit from the sometimes-overlooked methods of protection, which security experts point to as high-value tactics against hackers.
“IoT devices are clearly becoming pervasive, and when it comes to healthcare devices, the impact on safety is substantially higher,” said Sam Rehman, chief technology officer at Arxan Technologies, an IT security firm. “A number of measures should be enforced to reduce the chance of attacks and the level of impact and reach.”
Rehman offers a list of best practices, including:
“IoT devices are now being used by hackers to find secrets and protocols to access the back-end services and bypass access controls in data centers; hijack nodes to either deny services, steal data or forge transactions, or even as hop points to attack other nodes; run unauthorized transactions that could affect patient safety; and hijack nodes and servers to demand ransom,” Rehman said. “These aforementioned practices will both make it substantially harder for hackers to gain control of your devices and secrets, and also reduce the spread and impact of attacks.