Hospitals and health systems should be on the lookout for a cybersecurity vulnerability affecting a Medtronic cardiac device data system, the American Hospital Association warned July 6.
AHA pointed to a Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency alert warning that the Paceart Optima System's versions 1.11 and older are vulnerable to hackers. The device maker recommends immediately updating the system and manually disabling its messaging service in the meantime, AHA noted.
"As with many medical device cyber vulnerabilities, hospitals and health systems are dependent upon third-party medical device manufacturers to develop and deploy patches, which may require an extended time for the [vendor] to fully implement across its customer base," said John Riggi, AHA's national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, in the article. "This issue also serves as a reminder for hospitals and health systems to ensure efficient communication and alignment between clinical engineering and information security teams for efficient monitoring and mitigation of cyber vulnerabilities present in medical devices."