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Researchers Uncover Software Flaws Leaving Medical Devices Vulnerable to Hackers
Nearly 4,000 devices made by a range of vendors in the healthcare, government, and retail sectors are running the vulnerable software, according to cybersecurity firms Forescout Technologies and Medigate, which discovered the issue.
Credit: SmartCrowding
Researchers at cybersecurity firms Forescout Technologies and Medigate say they have discovered over a dozen software vulnerabilities that could be used to crash medical devices and other equipment.
The researchers warn nearly 4,000 devices made by various healthcare-, government-, and retail-industry vendors are running the software.
The flaws impact versions of the Nucleus Real-time Operating System software suite owned by industrial firm Siemens, which manages data across critical networks.
Forescout's Elisa Costante said her researchers aimed to highlight the need to vet legacy software used in key industries for security flaws.
Despite no evidence of exploitation by malicious hackers, Siemens has issued a patch that corrects the vulnerabilities, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has advised users to update their systems.
From CNN Business
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