In clinical settings, wearable devices are becoming increasingly important for monitoring our daily health and activity. Medical devices' cyber resilience must be strong and take into account a variety of factors and settings that may have an effect on the effectiveness of security controls and data privacy because of the sensitive nature of the data.

This is especially significant with regards to wearables, from smartwatches to constant glucose screens, that are dependent on appropriate use by the client for their product to stay cutting-edge and for network security.

Two essential aspects must be taken into account when discussing medical technology's cyber resilience: the device's level of security as well as the security of the data that is transferred, processed, and stored. It is likely that third-party suppliers are involved in either scenario. The way these elements are constructed and function as an ecosystem must be carefully examined for potential threats to resilience because they are essential to protecting personal data.

Dealing with other "stand-alone" issues is just as challenging, if not more so, than protecting these value chains. Despite the dangers, many businesses do not place a high priority on the cyber resilience of their operational ecosystem or supply chains.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 found that 13% of businesses evaluated the dangers posed by their immediate suppliers, while 7% evaluated the dangers posed by their entire supply chain.

When fewer businesses control their supply chains in a manner that might have been commonplace 30+ years ago—by owning every step—this lack of visibility into third-party risks is troubling. Supply chain resilience is more important than ever for businesses because of the market's notable fragmentation into numerous smaller, specialist players.

Three steps to help build a cyber-resilient supply chain Businesses need to improve how they deal with cyber risks to avoid harm to their business.

1. Define clear ownership: A dedicated team that focuses on evaluating and reducing supply chain or third-party risk tends to be more successful, preventing visibility from being lost and reducing the likelihood of weaknesses emerging

2. Prioritize suppliers by taking risk exposure-based factors into account, such as:

The goods or services they offer Access to data Which regulatory requirements apply If they are directly connected to systems A crucial step is highlighting the suppliers who are essential to the mission.

Take a risk-based approach to your supply chain, putting suppliers in order of how much of an impact they would have on the company if something went wrong and giving them the priority of being probed and developing resilience first.

Organizations need to coordinate an interior disclosure cycle to evaluate which outsider items exist inside their current circumstance, how they are created and recognize what parts of the business they support.

3. Consider the future and determine whether the terms of your current contract are appropriate not only for current regulatory compliance but also for the risk environment.

Additionally, partners must be sought to aid in risk prediction. With ongoing risk management services provided by a third party, onboarding specialists can accomplish this.

Accountability The environment in which devices operate is a second major factor from a resiliency standpoint; "Smart" hospital beds and radiology equipment, for instance, operate in a highly controlled medical environment.

However, technology like smartwatches or continuous glucose monitors is utilized largely unmonitored in everyday settings. When determining where legislators should focus on regulation and assessing the resilience of these devices, context is critical.

Device manufacturers have resisted the notion of being entirely responsible for the resilience of their products due to the fact that numerous external factors can cause security or privacy breaches. This raises the issue of who is responsible for medical technology security. Manufacturers of medical devices are obligated to guarantee that their products operate in accordance with predetermined use parameters.

They must then suggest the conditions under which the purchaser can use the device in the most secure manner. Clinicians, patients, and regulators will eventually demand minimum standards or de facto implement them if you lead this way.

This image will turn out to be considerably more perplexing when engineers incorporate ML and simulated intelligence more profound inside these gadgets.

More potential weak points will emerge as a result of the necessary increase in connectivity and data transfer between devices and edge or core systems. Devices with ML and AI embedded in them are unavoidable, despite the fact that many people are already cautious about the pooling of medical data for the purposes of analysis, research, and eventually personalized health recommendations. Instead of trying to catch up, we need to put systems in place to take this into account.

The only way to guarantee resilience is for all parties involved to fully comprehend the risks. Damages and disruptions can have a cascading effect in a supply chain that is vulnerable. As a result, the "crown jewels" of patient data and vital systems require precise safeguards. If digital health, which incorporates cutting-edge medical devices, is not implemented on time, public health outcomes will worsen.