Cynerio Keeps It Cool

Cynerio just received the honor of being named a Gartner Cool Vendor in the Cyber-Physical Systems Security category, making it the only medical-first IoT security platform to hold the title.

Granting this award to a platform focused on safeguarding medical technologies only goes to show how critical the nascent Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) cybersecurity industry is.

Evolving IoMT Industry Trends

The IoMT is a new and evolving space. Technologies, concerns, and trends in the industry change almost too fast to keep up:

• Primary Concerns–Medical device security standards outlined by MDS2 forms revolved around data safety and protecting Protected Health Information (PHI) until January 2020 when the MDS2 form was updated. The 2020 overhaul saw the standards place more emphasis on patient safety with cybersecurity protocols concerning device functionality.
• Risk Containment – Clinical networks have traditionally been self contained. With the introduction of smart medical devices and the growth of IoMT, risk containment has expanded to consider open, cloud, and various other services.
• Driving Forces – Cybersecurity projects at healthcare institutions have typically been driven by the need for compliance with various healthcare regulations and preparedness for audits. With the rise of IoMT and the fiscal repercussions, reputational damage, and risk to patient welfare posed by cyber attacks, healthcare cybersecurity projects have shifted into the domain of hospital boardrooms and are increasingly viewed as integral to successful business strategy.
• Attack Types–Traditionally, the biggest perceived threats on IoMT have been advanced and targeted attacks. Now, a variety of attacks bombard hospitals on a daily basis: They can be simple enough for any amateur hacker to carry out or as sophisticated and targeted as state-sponsored attacks. The scope and frequency of today's attacks puts large clinical networks and the medical devices patients rely on at even further risk.

As it stands, two-thirds of healthcare organizations have reported at least one security incident, and 83% of connected medical devices worldwide are at risk. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic attacks have spiked 300% . 

Being Cool: Medical-First IoT Cybersecurity

Cynerio was named a Gartner Cool Vendor for a reason. Hospitals need a solution tailored to health care with unique capabilities that can adapt and scale according to fast-evolving threats and broad technological advancements. Healthcare-oriented solutions should also support comprehensive organizational fitness by equating healthcare IT security goals with business goals and helping to align IT and Biomed/Clinical Engineering teams. 

Staying Ahead of the Curve

Medical-first solutions are built on the understanding that connected medical devices and IT/IoT devices differ in everything from function, communications behaviors, business impact, the kinds of vulnerabilities they have, and even how to manage and mitigate their risk. Medical devices are the cornerstone of clinical operations and safeguarding device functionality is equivalent to ensuring patient safety. 

However, standard IT security solutions like forensics, key management, cloud access security, data loss prevention, and incident response tools are often ineffective when applied as-is to medical devices because they lack an understanding of medical contexts and were not developed to handle IoMT-specific behaviors and protocols. 

For example, vulnerability scanners (a traditional IT tool) can conduct scans that may crash or reboot a medical device’s operating system, leading to the interruption of clinical services and negatively impacting patient care.

Staying ahead of the curve of evolving IoMT trends requires progressive medical-first solutions developed to directly address the existing and emerging challenges faced by healthcare organizations. Most importantly, these solutions must inherently understand the differences between connected medical devices and their standard IT and other non-medical IoT counterparts.

As the IoMT footprint continues to grow, a medical-first approach is needed to tailor solutions like vendor access management, device discovery, and network segmentation to serve clinical environments and their evolving needs.

Cynerio’s medical-first solution brings something entirely new to the healthcare industry and puts power back in the hands of hospitals. It supports quality and continuous clinical services in every scenario, optimizes organizational function by aligning IT goals with business goals, and protects patients whether it’s a regular day or in the midst of healthcare crises like COVID-19.

‍

‍About Cynerio

Cynerio is the world's premier medical-first IoT cybersecurity solution. We view cybersecurity as a standard part of patient care and provide healthcare delivery organizations with the insight and tools they need to secure clinical ecosystems and achieve long-term, scalable threat remediation without disrupting operations or the delivery of care.

‍