Security News

Researchers at healthcare cybersecurity company Cynerio just published a report about five cybersecurity holes they found in a hospital robot system called TUG. TUGs are pretty much robot cabinets or platforms on wheels, apparently capable of carrying up to 600kg and rolling along at just under 3km/hr. During what we're assuming was a combined penetration test/security assessment job, the Cynerio researchers were able to sniff out traffic to and from the robots in use, track the network exchanges back to a web portal running on the hospital network, and from there to uncover five non-trivial security flaws in the backend web servers used to control the hospital's robot underlords.

Security vendors pledge free protection for US hospitals and utilities amid fear of Russian cyberattacks. With that in mind, three security companies are offering their products for free to US hospitals and utilities.

A joint announcement from the Ministry of Health and the National Cyber Directorate in Israel describes a spike in ransomware attacks over the weekend that targeted the systems of nine health institutes in the country. In the joint announcement, the Israeli government states that the attempts resulted in no damage to the hospitals and the medical organizations, thanks to national-level coordination and the quick and decisive response of the local IT teams.

A hospital that continued to admit patients during a ransomware attack has been sued over claims that a baby died after doctors and nurses failed to spot there was a problem due to networks being shut down. Nicko Silar died after six months in intensive care after being born at Springhill Memorial Hospital with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, documents filed in the Alabama Circuit Court state [PDF].

In July 2019, an Alabama hospital was dealing with a ransomware attack that had shut down computer systems throughout the hospital. She has filed a lawsuit against the hospital that claims the loss of monitoring technology ultimately caused the death of her infant.

Healthcare cybersecurity under attack: How the pandemic affected rural hospitalsIn this interview with Help Net Security, Baha Zeidan, CEO at Azalea Health, talks about how rural hospitals have been affected by the pandemic and what steps they should take to boost their cybersecurity posture. 3 ways to protect yourself from cyberattacks in the midst of an IT security skill shortageEnterprises face a catch-22 situation: Security is more vital than ever, but cybersecurity positions are nearly impossible to fill.

In this interview with Help Net Security, Baha Zeidan, CEO at Azalea Health, talks about how rural hospitals have been affected by the pandemic and what steps they should take to boost their cybersecurity posture. How has the pandemic affected rural hospitals in particular and what could the long-term repercussions be?

How safe are hospitals from common vulnerabilities Ransomware is attacking the bottom line - 48% of hospital executives reported either a forced or proactive shutdown in the last 6 months as a result of external attacks or queries. Midsize hospitals feeling more pain - Of respondents that experienced a shutdown due to external factors, large hospitals reported an average shutdown time of 6.2 hours at a cost of $21,500 per hour while midsize hospitals averaged nearly 10 hours at more than double the cost or $45,700 per hour.

The security weaknesses, disclosed by American cybersecurity firm Armis, impact the Translogic PTS system by Swisslog Healthcare, which is installed in about 80% of all major hospitals in North America and in no fewer than 3,000 hospitals worldwide. "These vulnerabilities can enable an unauthenticated attacker to take over Translogic PTS stations and essentially gain complete control over the PTS network of a target hospital," Armis researchers Ben Seri and Barak Hadad said.

Researchers have discovered nine vulnerabilities - collectively dubbed PwnedPiper - in the pneumatic tube systems used in more than 80 percent of major hospitals in North America. The Translogic PTS system, used by more than 3,000 hospitals worldwide, is the pneumatic version of a hospital's veins, arteries and capillaries: The tubes deliver medications, blood, and lab samples throughout a hospital.