June 7, 2017
The Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force (HCIC TF), created under the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 released its final report to Congress on Friday, June 2nd. The report's findings demonstrate the scope and complexity of risks now facing stakeholders across the healthcare industry. Importantly, the Task Force stresses that cybersecurity issues must be considered within the context of patient safety, underscoring the need for public-private partnerships, collaboration, and investment to better protect patients and healthcare systems from cyberthreats.
The Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force includes representatives from government, health delivery organizations, and private sector experts, including UL's Anura Fernando, Principal Engineer, Medical Systems Interoperability and Security.
The report's recommendations to Congress are organized by six high-level imperatives, including the device specific recommendation to, "increase the security and resilience of medical devices and health IT." The Task Force also provided recommendations to secure legacy systems and, importantly, "improve manufacturing and development transparency among developers and users."
Regulators are increasingly interested in understanding how cyber risks are addressed throughout product design. As Congress takes up consideration of the Task Force's recommendations, addressing medical device cybersecurity will become a key defensive strategy and help ensure products meet potential new regulatory requirements.
Contact us to find out how UL digital health experts can help you meet your medical device security needs.
Access the recommendations online: HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY CYBERSECURITY TASK FORCE REPORT