The healthcare sector is undergoing a rapid digital transformation after COVID-19 accelerated a fast and effective healthcare response. More than ever, healthcare institutions are having to process and manage staggering amounts of patient data and intellectual property online every day. In fact, it’s even difficult to recall a recent healthcare interaction where some sort of medical device or equipment wasn’t used, from a blood pressure monitor, a continuous glucose monitor to the touch-screen tablet to confirm your appointment at the Doctor’s Office or eConsultancy available 24/7. A report from Deloitte found that more than 500,000 medical technologies are currently available.
Each day, more and more internet-connected devices are being designed to improve efficiencies, lower care costs and drive better outcomes in healthcare. As computing power and wireless capabilities improve, health organisations are leveraging the potential of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) to provide better smart solutions and push innovations further than ever before.
With their ability to collect, analyse and transmit health data, IoMT tools are rapidly changing the healthcare landscape. For patients and clinicians, these applications are playing a central part in tracking and preventing chronic illnesses, streamlining COVID-19 related data and evolving the future of care. But the main concern comes down to security.
Cloud-Based Shielded Logins
An interconnected circuit rife with patient data, research and intellectual property not only presents an ideal solution to health professionals, but is also a particularly appealing notion for cyber criminals. A cyber breach to the IoMT can take many forms, for example via a third party system. As the health sector had to rapidly adopt technology in order to produce results faster, develop new medical devices and even reinvent internal and external communication methods, third-party systems have been introduced to share the load.
An expanded ecosystem opens up more areas and vulnerabilities for an attack. For example, if any third-party vendor within an ecosystem were to experience a data breach, the entire organisation would be affected operationally. It would likely take on some of the reputational and financial damage too. But within the IoMT, the cyber impact impacts more than just the immediate organisation, instead having a knock on effect on various suppliers, hospitals, pharmacies and surgeries.
Cloud-based solutions can help to not only support the enormous amounts of data from thousands of data points within the IoMT, but also add an additional layer of security that keeps this confidential and sensitive information away from malicious intent. Many cloud-based solutions include features such as shielded logins to third-party systems that also cooperate with the IoMT. So how does this tech actually work? Using an authentication service whereby the user’s logins are transported via the browser as a client, all other authentication processes are performed by backend systems. Logins can be dynamically generated, unique passwords and tokens are also encouraged that are not stored by the service provider, so that the login information to applications remains hidden for all other users.
Removing Malicious Threats from the IoMT
Another form of a malicious cyber attack is the traditional ‘phishing attack’, which refers to the fraudulent attempt to access critical information by posing as a trusted source or entity. The IoMT’s advantage of an interconnected system can regrettably also be its downfall. Whether it’s the patient, doctor or physician who needs to log into the IoMT, all pose an opportunity from the perspective of a hacker. The number of phishing attacks increased dramatically during the pandemic as so many organisations made the sudden pivot to online operations. Users can automatically remove this direct threat by implementing a cloud-based solution that disconnects the end user from the hosting environment, whether that’s the eConsult webpage or patient history file. The combination of a cloud security software that only grants access to shared applications rather to an entire network, ensures that sensitive files can only be downloaded from the server to the end device authorisation.
Due to the ubiquitous nature of the issue, it is highly encouraged that IoMT users relinquish laggard security systems and instead implement cloud-based solutions that exercise Zero Trust Architecture. Through this approach, no actor who attempts to access resources or services within the IoMT is trusted from the outset. This means every access, whether from outside or inside, is individually authenticated and as soon as a change in risk is detected, access is interrupted.
IoMT in 2022
The IoMT market is growing exponentially and is expected to reach a value of $254.2 billion in 2026. With new mega influences such as AI available, medical developments and technologies are being released into the medical scene every day. Ultimately, IoMT is poised for continuous global adoption which further strengthens the need for ultimate cyber security. As the market grows, increasing amounts of sensitive data is on the line.
Implementing an end-to-end cloud-based cyber security solution, is a simple yet highly effective way to future-proof health care and IoMT in the year ahead. Whether it’s a GP, NHS administrator or chiropractor who needs to log into the IoMT, having the peace of mind that they can do this with the utmost cloud security will be a priority for the future.
Article by Dominik Birgelen, CEO of oneclick AG
