Executive Summary

Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) are widely used by hospitals, research institutions, clinics and small healthcare practices for sharing patient data and medical images. In 2019, researchers disclosed a vulnerability in these systems that demonstrated if the systems were exploited there could potentially be an issue with exposed patient data. These systems, which can be easily identified and compromised by hackers over the Internet, can provide unauthorized access and expose patient records. There continues to be several unpatched PACS servers visible and HC3 is recommending entities patch their systems immediately. Healthcare organizations are advised to review their inventory to determine if they are running any PACS systems and if so, ensure the guidance in this alert is followed. View the entire report below.