HHS urges health sector to protect against severe Java vulnerability

Health care organizations should survey their information infrastructure to ensure they are not running vulnerable versions of the Apache Log4j Java library, upgrade any vulnerable systems and identify possible exploitation, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center advised Friday. A remote code execution vulnerability was identified last month in certain versions of the popular software, which are now being actively exploited. Many applications and platforms use the Log4j software, so it’s highly likely that the health sector is impacted, HHS said. Apache has released an update that organizations should quickly deploy (after testing, as needed) across all vulnerable devices in the enterprise, the agency said.

John Riggi, AHA senior advisory for cybersecurity and risk, said, “As echoed by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly on today’s national call, this is one of the most serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities in years, it impacts hundreds of millions of devices and is already being actively exploited by our cyber adversaries. Organizations should immediately upgrade to log4j 2.15.0, starting with internet-facing devices. This, however, will not remedy the threat from a cyber actor who may have previously exploited this vulnerability and is present inside your networks. We are working closely with government to understand the impact of this threat to hospitals, health systems and the many mission-critical third parties that service our field. We will keep the field promptly advised of any new developments in regard to this serious threat.” 

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