Security News > 2020 > August > Researchers develop AI technique to protect medical devices from anomalous instructions

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have developed a new AI technique that will protect medical devices from malicious operating instructions in a cyberattack as well as other human and system errors.

Complex medical devices such as CT, MRI and ultrasound machines are controlled by instructions sent from a host PC. Abnormal or anomalous instructions introduce many potentially harmful threats to patients, such as radiation overexposure, manipulation of device components or functional manipulation of medical images.

As part of his Ph.D. research, BGU researcher Tom Mahler has developed a technique using artificial intelligence that analyzes the instructions sent from the PC to the physical components using a new architecture for the detection of anomalous instructions.

"We developed a dual-layer architecture for the protection of medical devices from anomalous instructions," Mahler says.

"The architecture focuses on detecting two types of anomalous instructions: context-free anomalous instructions which are unlikely values or instructions such as giving 100x more radiation than typical, and context-sensitive anomalous instructions, which are normal values or combinations of values, of instruction parameters, but are considered anomalous relative to a particular context, such as mismatching the intended scan type, or mismatching the patient's age, weight, or potential diagnosis."

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