Widespread lack of security found in medical imaging archiving systems

PARCA eNews – Sept. 17, 2019 – Millions of medical images are vulnerable to hackers according to a joint report by ProPublica and Bayerischer Rundfunk, a public broadcaster in Munich Germany.

The joint research project identified 187 servers used to store and retrieve medical data in the US that were unprotected by passwords or basic security precautions. The computer systems from Florida to California were primarily used by doctor’s offices, medical imaging centers and mobile x-ray services.

The security on these servers was found to be so lax that Jackie Singh, a cybersecurity expert said it didn’t even require hacking to view images on some of the servers.

The research was originally conducted by Greenbone Networks, a security firm based in Germany that identified 52 countries that had similar problems with medical security. The firm shared its findings with Bayerischer Rundfunk, which then approached ProPublica to explore the extent of exposure in the U.S.

The reporters eventually found more than 13.7 million medical tests in the U.S. available online, including more than 400,000 in which x-rays and other image could be downloaded.