By By Dan Hounsell

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities already depended on a vast array of potential cyber attack targets in the form of a large number of connected vendors and medical devices. The pandemic expand the array of possible targets. The devices, while crucial, expanded an already overextended threat landscape.

Healthcare delivery organizations quickly scaled implementations of technologies designed to support the response, including telehealth platforms, new fleets of medical devices, and other patient support technologies, according to Health IT Security. This includes temporary care sites and labs, along with troves of connected devices and telehealth platforms desperately needed to adequately support patient care. 

Richard Staynings, chief security strategist for Cylera, says telemetry data shows that COVID-19 brought on a massive increase in the use of CT scanners and patient telemetry systems, such as blood pressure cuffs, EMRs, airflow machines, and similar vulnerable technologies.