Tag: Connected

Palo Alto Networks Announces Medical IoT Security to Protect Connected Devices Critical to Patient Care

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As healthcare providers use digital devices such as diagnostic and monitoring systems, ambulance equipment, and surgical robots to improve patient care, the security of those devices is as important as their primary function. Today, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) announced Medical IoT Security — the most comprehensive Zero Trust security solution for medical devices — enabling healthcare organizations to deploy and manage new connected technologies quickly and securely. Zero Trust is a strategic approach to cybersecurity that secures an organization by eliminating implicit trust by continuously verifying every user and device.

“The proliferation of connected medical devices in the healthcare industry brings a wealth of benefits, but these devices are often not well secured. For example, according to Unit 42, an alarming 75{bf0515afdcaddba073662ceb89fbb62b6b1bf123143c0e06b788e1946e8c353f} of smart infusion pumps examined on the networks of hospitals and healthcare organizations had known security gaps,” said Anand Oswal, senior vice president of products, network security at Palo Alto Networks. “This makes security devices an attractive target for cyberattackers, potentially exposing patient data and ultimately putting patients at risk.”

While a Zero Trust approach is critical to help protect medical devices against today’s innovative cyberthreats, it can be hard to implement in practice. Through automated device discovery, contextual segmentation, least privilege policy recommendations and one-click enforcement of policies, Palo Alto Networks Medical IoT Security delivers a Zero Trust approach in a seamless, simplified manner. Medical IoT Security also provides best-in-class threat protection through seamless integration with Palo Alto Networks cloud-delivered security services, such as Advanced Threat Prevention and Advanced URL Filtering.

The new Palo Alto Networks Medical IoT Security uses machine learning (ML) to enable healthcare organizations to:

  • Create device rules with automated security responses: Easily create rules that monitor devices for behavioral anomalies and automatically trigger appropriate responses. For example, if a medical device that typically only sends small amounts of data unexpectedly begins to use a lot of bandwidth, the device can be cut off from the internet and security teams can be alerted.
  • Automate Zero Trust policy recommendations and enforcement: Enforce recommended least-privileged access policies for medical devices with one click using Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls or supported network enforcement technologies. This eliminates error-prone and time-consuming manual policy creation and scales easily across a set of devices with the same profile.
  • Understand device vulnerabilities and risk posture: Access each medical device’s Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and map them to Common Vulnerability Exposures (CVEs). This mapping helps identify the software libraries used on medical devices and any associated vulnerabilities. Get immediate insights into the risk posture of each device, including end-of-life status, recall notification, default password alert and unauthorized external website communication.
  • Improve compliance: Easily understand medical device vulnerabilities, patch status and security settings, and then get recommendations to bring devices into compliance with rules and guidelines, such as the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and similar laws and regulations.
  • Verify network segmentation: Visualize the entire map of connected devices and ensure each device is placed in its designated network segment. Proper network segmentation can ensure a device only communicates with authorized systems.
  • Simplify operations: Two distinct dashboards allow IT and biomedical engineering teams to each see the information critical to their roles. Integration with existing healthcare information management systems, like AIMS and Epic Systems, helps automate workflows.

Healthcare organizations are using Palo Alto Networks products to secure the devices that deliver cutting-edge care to millions of patients all over the world.

“Establishing and maintaining acute situational awareness of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) environment is paramount to establishing an effective enterprise cybersecurity program. The ability to accurately detect, identify and respond to cyber threats is critical to ensuring minimal operational impact to clinical operations during a cyber event,” said Tony Lakin, CISO, Moffitt Cancer Center. “Palo Alto Networks IoT capability seamlessly integrates with our continuous monitoring processes and threat-hunting operations. The platform consistently provides my teams with actionable information to allow them to proactively manage the threat surface of our medical device portfolio.”

“With thousands of devices to manage, healthcare environments are extremely complex and require intelligent security solutions capable of doing more. Palo Alto Networks understands this requirement and is leveraging machine learning (ML) for Medical IoT security. Adding intelligence will enable providers to improve operational efficiency, which will enhance patient and practitioner experience and alleviate the burden of an ongoing IT skills shortage,” said Bob Laliberte, principal analyst, ESG.

“Healthcare providers continue to be high-value targets for attackers. This reality, combined with the diversity of medical IoT devices and their inherent vulnerabilities, points to a real need for device security that is purpose-built for healthcare use cases. The ability to defend against threats targeting critical care devices while maintaining operational availability and strengthening the alignment of device governance responsibilities between IT and Biomed engineering teams is quickly becoming a necessity for the protection of patient data and lives,” said Ed Lee, research director, IoT and Intelligent Edge Security, IDC.

More Information

  • Learn more about Medical IoT Security here.
  • Read the Medical IoT Security announcement blog here.
  • Register to attend the Palo Alto Networks Ignite Conference on December 12th – 15th, 2022, here.
  • Follow Palo Alto Networks on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Availability

Medical IoT Security will be available in January 2023.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks is the world’s cybersecurity leader. We innovate to outpace cyberthreats, so organizations can embrace technology with confidence. We provide next-gen cybersecurity to thousands of customers globally, across all sectors. Our best-in-class cybersecurity platforms and services are backed by industry-leading threat intelligence and strengthened by state-of-the-art automation. Whether deploying our products to enable the Zero Trust Enterprise, responding to a security incident, or partnering to deliver better security outcomes through a world-class partner ecosystem, we’re committed to helping ensure each day is safer than the one before. It’s what makes us the cybersecurity partner of choice.

At Palo Alto Networks, we’re committed to bringing together the very best people in service of our mission, so we’re also proud to be the cybersecurity workplace of choice, recognized among Newsweek’s Most Loved Workplaces (2021), Comparably Best Companies for Diversity (2021), and HRC Best Places for LGBTQ Equality (2022). For more information, visit www.paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks and the Palo Alto Networks logo are registered trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. Any unreleased services or features (and any services or features not generally available to customers) referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available (or are not yet generally available to customers) and may not be delivered when expected or at all. Customers who purchase Palo Alto Networks applications should make their purchase decisions based on services and features currently generally available.

SOURCE Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

Recognizing The Benefits of Connected Medical Devices

Linked Medical Gadgets Added benefits

Recognizing The Benefits of Connected Medical Devices

Recognizing brands are cranking out an rising selection of smart, online-connected products, which include a escalating quantity of connected professional medical products (IoT). The good variations of everyday know-how have been swiftly approved by shoppers everywhere, from light-weight bulbs and kitchen area appliances to doorway locks and thermostats.

When we communicate about “linked healthcare products,” we suggest those people that can website link to the web as a result of wi-fi technologies like WIFI and Bluetooth, or even radio waves. A lot more than just a suggests of analysis, procedure, overcome, or prevention, the electronic abilities of modern health-related devices also help them to connection to and interact with other networks and devices.

To maintain sensitive data protected and hackers at bay, firms that utilize related professional medical products need an overarching possibility administration approach.

To begin, they require to be knowledgeable of all the possible hazards related with wirelessly linked professional medical machines.

Then, enterprises may possibly make improvements to their means to guide people, buyers, and shoppers by bolstering the safety of related professional medical devices with a concentration on a few principal places: possibility assessments, penetration tests, pink staff companies, and the installation of safety functions remedies.

Related Health care Equipment Added benefits

With the use of world-wide-web-related clinical machines, health care services may well turn into much less dependent on a central authority. Healthcare treatment is now available devoid of demanding patients to go away their communities. It quantities to huge financial savings for the two doctors and people and paves the way for remote affected person checking.

Improved prognosis and treatment

A extra complete photograph of a patient’s health may possibly be gathered when we position linked health care gear in the patient’s environment, these types of as in their house or by means of wearables.

In addition to the clinical facts we receive from laboratory testing and healthcare therapies, we may possibly also evaluate environmental, dietary, and psychological aspects. This will allow us to get a fuller picture of the patient’s issue.

Clinicians are far better equipped to diagnose and deal with sufferers when they have a fuller picture of their life. Soon after a cure plan has been proven, the joined gadget permits a far more precise comply with-up evaluation of the patient’s condition. Can we see progress? remaining the exact same? Are factors obtaining worse? Clinicians can make this observation substantially extra promptly with the assistance of a joined gadget.

When data is being collected, “huge data” systems may well be employed to analyze the data. As a consequence, doctors are improved capable to see styles or similarities and settle on an technique that will give optimum results.

Authorities and industrial insurance policy providers are progressively adopting benefit-based or final result-dependent models, and this engineering may perhaps help professional medical corporations in aligning treatment with these products.

Potential to have plan generation by means of data selection

When details is gathered in 1 position, it might be mined for insights into the device’s utilization by clients and health professionals. When building advancements for the gadget, this may well be a enormous help.

Even more extrapolation reveals that this might offer a substantial edge above rivals who absence access to these types of information. The data in your details warehouse may be utilised to more healthcare know-how and notify much better diagnostic and treatment approaches.

Your organization model may well also be enhanced with the assist of linked gizmos. You could, for instance, swap to a spend-as-you-go technique alternatively than the conventional established regular monthly rate for owning and utilizing the products. They may perhaps serve as a bridge amongst the healthcare supplier, insurance provider, and production communities.

Client results with insulin pumps are just one space that Medtronic has cooperated with insurance policy carriers to monitor. The end result will be enhanced patient care administration and reduce wellness pitfalls.

Info Era for Diagnostic Insights

In the past, physicians struggled thanks to a deficiency of quickly out there information. As computerized techniques grew extra prevalent, doctors have been left with far too substantially facts to properly examine, and this presented a new problem.

Connected health care units and AI solve this difficulty by allowing clinicians to make just the info they need to have to solution particular inquiries, and by using the computing electric power of AI/ML systems to speedily extract these insights.

Just 30 many years in the past, it would have taken armies of physicians to do what can nowadays be carried out by a one practitioner. By minimizing the time, it will take to make a prognosis, medical professionals will be ready to emphasis on offering their clients with far better therapy and lower affected individual wait around situations.

Enhanced drug safety

World-wide-web of Things (IoT) know-how and joined units have aided vendors in stopping a malfunction or important incidence. Producers and complex groups can hold a shut eye on these gadgets with ease.

When something goes improper, early warning alerts could be despatched out so that the issue can be mounted in advance of it brings down vital programs and has a domino impact.

Customized Care

Precise and trusted knowledge will allow health care practitioners to supply individualized therapy that is equally efficient and successful. It is far simpler for doctors to comprehend individual actions, monitor the results of lots of prescription drugs, and make any needed adjustments.

A medical doctor could prescribe a medication that comes in a  with a sensor that retains keep track of of how usually and for how lengthy the bottle is opened. This will enable the medical doctor see how effectively the individual is following dosing guidelines and how easy it is for them to get their fingers on the treatment.

Better healthcare system administration

If your firm manufactures medical products and puts them on the current market, you must maintain tabs on its standing and performance. Unit upkeep and troubleshooting fall on you, the person, in most situation.

With a networked professional medical gadget, you can get diagnostic data from afar. All of your subject equipment will be running in a chance-cost-free method with this evaluate in location. You may prevent a likely disastrous condition from occurring by owning your business set up notifications that notify you of any products failures.

Also, employing this genuine-time details, healthcare product businesses may improve the use of their routine maintenance team. As a substitute of adhering to a mounted, time-dependent servicing plan, they may be sent to the locations with the most pressing demands or issues.

The remote abilities also facilitate computer software updates and the rollout of bug patches, each of which are vital from a routine maintenance standpoint. Because troubles might normally be solved through the world wide web without the need of the require for a technician’s existence, this also contributes to improved service for prospects.

Conclusion

The healthcare marketplace is heading toward a more linked potential. It assists with analysis, increases patient outcomes, can be monitored remotely, and may possibly even assistance help you save expenses.

Connected health and fitness doesn’t finish there, nevertheless it also paves the way for improved data collection and evaluation, which in change could lead to the improvement of even superior health care technological know-how that will finally benefit just about every patient.