Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Medical devices are one major weak point in health care cybersecurity, and both Congress and the Food and Drug Administration took steps towards closing that gap this week —Congress with a proposed bill and the FDA with new draft guidelines for device makers on how they should build devices that are less likely to be hacked.
Devices like infusion pumps or imaging machines that are connected to the internet can be targets for hacks. Those attacks can siphon off patient data or put their safety directly at risk. Experts consistently find that devices in use today have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers.
The FDA, which regulates medical devices, has been trying to get a handle on this problem for a while. Back in 2014, it…
