The latest medical advances lay at the intersection of patient care and connected technology. Integration of new technology enables innovations that improve patient outcomes, reduce cost of care delivery, and advance medical research. However, new technology also introduces new classes of accidents and adversaries that must be anticipated and addressed proactively. Where cyber security issues can affect patient safety, an appropriate standard of care is warranted. In recent weeks, cyber threats have become the top-of-mind topic for healthcare and security communities; an open letter from Senator Barbara Boxer called on manufacturers to improve cybersecurity of their products, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a public push for good-faith hacking of medical devices.
In light of these developments, the Atlantic Council revisited its groundbreaking work on the Healthcare Internet of Things and updated the discussion to see what the likely implications are, how to proceed, and what the future of healthcare cyber safety might look like. The moderated panel discussion gathered a group of prominent cybersecurity experts, including Dr. Suzanne Schwartz, Associate Director for Science and Strategic Partnerships at the FDA; Mara Tam, Director of Government Affairs at HackerOne; and Beau Woods, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative.