FDA Worries About Cybersecurity of Medical Devices

Malware jumping to them from infected computers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday urged medical device makers and medical facilities to upgrade security protections to protect against potential cyber threats that could compromise the devices or patient privacy.

It released that advisory in coordination with a separate alert from the Department of Homeland Security, which disclosed vulnerability in a wide variety of medical equipment that can make those devices vulnerable to remote attacks from hackers.

"Over the past year, we've become increasingly aware of cyber security vulnerabilities in incidents that have been reported to us," William Maisel, deputy director for science at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an interview. "Hundreds of medical devices have been affected, involving dozens of manufacturers," Maisel said, adding that many were infected by malicious software, or malware.