Security platform provider Armis today announced a patch and mitigation steps to address nine critical vulnerabilities in the firmware for a pneumatic tube system used by more than 3,000 hospitals, primarily in North America. According to Armis, the firmware powers all current models of the Translogic pneumatic tube system station made by Swisslog Healthcare. For more on the vulnerabilities and recommended actions, see the Armis blog.

John Riggi, AHA senior advisor for cybersecurity and risk, said, “Although the mechanical principles of pneumatic tubes date back over 100 years, today’s pneumatic tubes for delivering medications, blood products and lab samples across multiple departments of a hospital are highly computerized and network-connected, making them highly efficient. However, the vulnerabilities identified make them susceptible to cyber or ransomware attack. Disruption of a hospital pneumatic tube system would have widespread impact on care delivery operations, potentially resulting in delay of treatment and the need for increased emergency staffing to hand carry the essential items between departments.”  

For further information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org
 

Related News Articles

Headline
Effective today under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, medical devices seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration must meet certain…
Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday released a mobile device security checklist for the health care sector, and an update on the…
Headline
In this AHA podcast, hear the inside story on the FBI’s successful infiltration and shutdown of a cybercriminal gang that specialized in hospital and health…
Headline
The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center today provided actionable intelligence and…
Headline
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today held a hearing examining cybersecurity risks to the health care sector. Witnesses…
Headline
The Health Sector Coordinating Council public-private partnership and Department of Health and Human Services today released a guide to help health care…