Cybersecurity Protection for PACS and Medical Imaging: Deployment Considerations and Practical Problems

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Computer Science
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Cybersecurity threats are a growing concern in the healthcare sector, impacting critical systems like Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS).
• Previous research has identified specific attacks on PACS and medical imaging networks and proposed initial security measures.
• Effective deployment of these proposed cybersecurity measures requires careful consideration of practical implementation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the practical issues and considerations for deploying cybersecurity measures in healthcare IT environments, specifically for PACS.
• To provide actionable recommendations for implementing proposed security measures in medical imaging networks.
• To identify gaps in current standards and profiles that hinder cybersecurity implementation in PACS.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of cybersecurity attacks targeting PACS and medical imaging networks.
• Review of existing security measures and their proposed implementation strategies.
• Discussion of practical challenges and recommendations for deploying security measures in a hospital IT infrastructure.

Main Results:

• Hospitals should prioritize virus scanner deployment on central IT infrastructure devices.
• Systematic management of software and security updates is crucial for operating systems, applications, and virus scanners.
• Long-term strategies for access rights with PACS vendors and enabling encrypted network communication are recommended.
• Existing standards facilitate many cybersecurity tasks, but gaps remain in certificate/signature management and PACS access rights integration profiles.

Conclusions:

• Successful cybersecurity implementation in healthcare requires a multi-faceted approach including technical solutions and strategic vendor agreements.
• Standardization and integration profiles are needed to address remaining gaps, particularly concerning certificate management and access control in PACS environments.
• Proactive planning and systematic management are essential for enhancing the security posture of medical imaging systems against evolving cyber threats.