Are your IT systems healthy?
At the forefront of research, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment in the hospital environment - that's what patients expect from players in the healthcare sector today. In an emergency, human lives are at stake. It is regrettable that IT systems in healthcare facilities are increasingly exposed to threats from cyberspace. IT security audits and certificates from TÜVIT protect the health of our fellow human beings.
When patients seek medical treatment, it is not uncommon for acute life-threatening conditions to be the reason for visits to the practice or hospitalisation. Modern emergency services and inpatient treatment technologies are the basis for fast and the best possible help. High-performance IT, communication and telematics infrastructures as well as healthcare apps are the basis for increasingly digitalised clinical and administrative processes. These must be highly available when needed. After all, human life and limb are at stake.
Digitalisation and networking are already an integral part of modern medical technology and medical care. The higher the connectivity of IT systems, the degree of outsourcing to various players or the use of vulnerable medical technologies, the more likely successful attacks from cyberspace become. This applies all the more to "historically grown" system and software architectures. If this happens, the best-case scenario is that operating theatres are only postponed. If ventilators in intensive care medicine are affected, there is a risk to life. Sometimes entire hospital complexes are affected by hacker attacks and are shut down for days.
Current statistics clearly show that the healthcare sector is increasingly becoming the focus of cybercriminals. It is not uncommon for sensitive and particularly sensitive healthcare data to be stolen. This is why the legislator responded in 2015 with the IT Security Act and theBSI Criticism Ordinancecategorised parts of the healthcare infrastructure as critical. In terms of patient data protection, the EU's GDPR has been in force since 2018 and thePatient Data Protection Act (PDSG)In addition to the legal obligation to effectively protect medical IT infrastructures and data, the Digital Health Applications Regulation (DIGAV), theE-Health Act, the Digital Healthcare Act (DVG) or theHospital Future Act (KHZG)have recently paved the way for the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. IT security is essential.
IT security in the healthcare sector can only be ensured if all component levels are designed to be resistant to external attacks, both individually and as an overall system. This applies in particular to operators of medical technology facilities that are subject to the BSI Criticism Ordinance. TÜVIT not only provides an effective security concept for this. We also offer healthcare facilities and medical technology manufacturers a comprehensive portfolio of auditing and testing services based on nationally and internationally recognised standards. We also have in-house certification programmes in selected subject areas.