Cyberattacks on medical equipment aren’t hypothetical. They’re interrupting care, delaying treatment, and putting patients at risk.
RunSafe Security found that 22% of healthcare organizations experienced cyberattacks targeting connected medical devices. Among those, 75% saw disruptions to patient care, and nearly 1 in 4 had to transfer patients to other facilities to maintain safety
The ransomware attack on a major health system in May 2024 underscored just how far-reaching the impact can be. Clinical operations across 142 hospitals were affected, and access to electronic health records remained down for nearly four weeks.
And the trend isn’t slowing. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, breached healthcare records rose 64% from 2023 to 2024—making last year the worst on record.
These aren’t just compliance issues. They’re operational threats that impact clinical workflows, capital planning, patient throughput, and financial performance.
Achieve complete medical device visibility and close cybersecurity gaps
Most hospitals already monitor part of their device network. The problem is what gets missed. Unmonitored buildings, overlooked routers, and legacy devices create blind spots that bad actors can exploit.
A secure medical equipment environment starts with a complete, real-time inventory of every connected device—across every floor, building, and site. A comprehensive audit lays the groundwork, followed by a gap analysis to pinpoint where monitoring falls short. It’s not uncommon to find entire buildings or floors left unmonitored.
With thousands of routers and devices communicating simultaneously, even a single missed connection can create a vulnerability. The right technology can help teams determine where to connect, how to segment, and how to ensure 100% visibility.
To begin:
- Reconcile your inventory across every site and floor and never assume your current list is complete.
- Validate that every connected device is actively monitored.
- Include satellite buildings, imaging centers, and mobile units in your network map.
Visibility isn’t a one-time project. It’s the baseline for everything that follows. A thorough inventory is your operational framework that connects asset data, device health, and real-time visibility across the network.
Start with reconciliation across every facility, floor, and building. Then assess monitoring coverage. In one recent audit, a hospital had left an entire imaging center off its network map—leaving dozens of devices unprotected.
Gaps in visibility don’t just compromise your network. They compromise care.
Identify medical device vulnerabilities and take action
Once you’ve established visibility, the next priority is 24/7 monitoring and response. A dynamic device environment requires more than just network oversight. It needs contextual insight into which vulnerabilities matter most and how they impact patient care.
Most device vulnerabilities are preventable, but they’re not always fixable on the hospital’s terms. OEM barriers, patch delays, and unclear accountability often turn manageable risks into disruptive events. That’s why a remediation strategy needs more than visibility; it requires authority and speed.
Intelas strengthens this with CE-IT training across our field teams, ensuring technicians are equipped to navigate both clinical engineering and IT workflows. This helps close the loop faster as technicians and engineers can speak the language of security teams, understand network policy, and respond to vulnerabilities without delays caused by siloed roles.
To stay ahead:
- Implement continuous device risk scoring to prioritize remediation.
- Document patch responsibilities for each device and assign ownership.
- Build fast-track escalation paths for critical vulnerabilities.
- Train staff to operate confidently across clinical and IT environments.
Monitoring is only as effective as the actions it enables. A cross-functional team grounded in shared knowledge and rapid coordination turns detection into resolution.
Cybersecurity requires coordination, not just technology
Mitigating device-level threats depends on collaboration. This goes beyond tools and relies on trust, responsiveness, and cross-functional execution between cybersecurity teams, hospital IT, clinical engineering, and OEMs.
At Intelas, our Cyber Defense Team plays a central role in this effort, bridging device-level risk with systemwide response planning and offering expert guidance during high-priority events.
To drive faster, more effective response:
- Establish clear ownership for device-level cybersecurity across departments.
- Build shared dashboards and escalation paths before an incident occurs.
- Ensure procurement, compliance, and IT are involved early in patch planning.
- Designate a lead contact or cross-functional team to manage OEM discussions and validate next steps, whether internally or with an external cybersecurity partner.
From day one, that means weekly syncs, shared dashboards, and an approved escalation path. When a device is flagged, it’s isolated, assessed, and—once approved—patched or adjusted in coordination with the OEM.
One of the biggest challenges? Timing. Many OEMs require a purchase order before they’ll even discuss a patch, creating a barrier to rapid resolution. That’s why hospital engagement throughout the process is critical
Case Study- Lawrence General Hospital
Following a cybersecurity event in 2020, Lawrence General Hospital engaged Intelas to secure its connected device environment. Within a few months, the hospital reported zero high-impact, exploitable vulnerabilities.
Key actions included:
- Flagging unsupported operating systems and devices with known vulnerabilities.
- Revalidating CMMS data against OEM records.
- Mapping risky communications between devices.
- Prioritizing replacement of aging equipment.
This is what a mature cybersecurity program looks like—not just monitoring, but action and alignment.
Aligning medical device cybersecurity with capital strategy
Cybersecurity and capital planning may live in different domains, but the data tells a shared story. Device-level risk scoring enables HTM leaders to flag outdated equipment that poses cybersecurity and operational threats.
Intelas actively builds capital plans in collaboration with our clients, leveraging cybersecurity data as a key input to guide strategic equipment decisions. Hospitals gain a clearer picture of which devices create risk, especially those running obsolete operating systems or no longer supported by OEMs.
To strengthen alignment:
- Incorporate cybersecurity scoring into equipment replacement criteria.
- Flag unsupported assets during routine monitoring for capital prioritization.
- Review device risk reports jointly with HTM, IT, and finance teams.
- Use real-world threat data to justify budgetary decisions.
Early action avoids downtime, improves readiness, and turns risk insights into strategic planning.
Where cybersecurity is headed
Medical device cybersecurity is entering a new era driven not just by threats, but by regulation and lifecycle discipline.
The FDA’s June 2025 final guidance for Premarket Cybersecurity in Medical Devices formally expects manufacturers to embed cybersecurity throughout the product lifecycle—covering threat modeling, software bills of materials (SBOMs), secure design, and ongoing vulnerability monitoring.
What this means for hospitals and HTM teams:
- Premarket security standards now form a baseline for post-market resilience.
- As OEMs adopt SBOMs and secure-by-design models, hospitals will require better supply-chain visibility—meaning devices are more transparent about software components and patch pathways.
- Lifecycle risk data from manufacturers should seamlessly feed into your monitoring, remediation, and capital planning workflows.
To prepare:
- Demand Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) and premarket security documentation during device procurement.
- Align HIT, HTM, and cybersecurity teams to verify that devices purchased meet FDA premarket expectations.
- Use incoming device-level security data to update your asset risk scores and capital schedules.
The message is clear: cybersecurity isn’t optional engineering, it’s a regulatory and operational imperative. As device makers advance their security maturity, hospitals must elevate theirs.
Cybersecurity isn’t about locking down, it’s about enabling care delivery without compromise. That requires more than software and dashboards. It demands smarter asset management: a connected, clinical, and data-driven approach that integrates cybersecurity into every phase of the equipment lifecycle.
At Intelas, we bring together visibility, insight, and action so hospitals can protect patients, prevent disruptions, and strengthen operations without trade-offs.
