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Josh Corman: Securing Healthcare - a Digital Upgrade for the Hippocratic Oath

VIDEOS / 05.01.17 / Cylance Videos

Hospitals and medical device manufacturers are years behind when it comes to online security, but the first step in fixing any problem is admitting that you have a problem.

When Josh Corman co-founded global grassroots organization I Am The Cavalry, his goal was to focus on every area where bits and bytes meet flesh and blood. The group first addressed the automotive industry by helping to provide guidelines to better secure connected cars.

Corman has now shifted his concern to the healthcare industry, which has faced massive cybersecurity challenges in recent years, such as ransomware attacks that have shut down operations at major hospitals.

Watch the full video interview with Josh Corman here:

VIDEO: Josh Corman Interviewed at RSA 2017

While the situation is bad, Corman is buoyed by the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the medical device community recognizes the problem and the urgency to fix it. He’s already helped develop a Hippocratic Oath for connected medical devices.

In fact, his operation is going so well that Congress told other regulated agencies to look more like the collaboration between I Am the Cavalry and the FDA.

The real problem, he says, is that hospitals are simply not prepared for the digital onslaught that’s currently assaulting them. Many sizable hospitals are severely behind with the digital times. Most have no security budget and no security staff. Compounding the problem, they often use antiquated systems such as Windows XP machines, that have passed their days of patching/ upgrades and are extremely vulnerable to attack.

“We’ve got some uncomfortable truths here and some uncomfortable policy implications when we report back to Congress in about a month,” says Corman, when we interviewed him at RSA 2017. “But when you know you’ve got really big problems, you have to think bigger and think harder and get more creative. So we’re at that stage right now.”

ABOUT ‘I AM THE CAVALRY’ CYBER SAFETY OUTREACH:

The Cavalry is a global grassroots organization focused on issues where computer security intersects public safety and human life. The organization strives to ensure that these technologies are worthy of the trust we place in them. Their areas of focus are medical devicesautomobileshome electronics and public infrastructure. The Cavalry message is that our dependence on computer technology is increasing faster than our ability to safeguard ourselves. As computerization and connectivity become more ubiquitous, it's important that we protect public safety and human life.

Learn more here: https://www.iamthecavalry.org/

About the Author

David Spark is a veteran tech journalist and founder of Spark Media Solutions. Since 1996, Spark and his articles have appeared in more than 40 media outlets including eWEEK, Wired News, PCWorld, ABC Radio, John C. Dvorak’s “Cranky Geeks,” KQED’s “This Week in Northern California,” and TechTV (formerly ZDTV). Spark is also the author of the book, Three Feet from Seven Figures: One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows.” Today, Spark blogs regularly on the Spark Minute and is a regular contributor for Forbes. Spark is a noted speaker, entertainer, and moderator at tech and marketing events. 

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