Siemens Healthineers receives $7M grant to spearhead cybersecurity research
Siemens Healthineers is receiving a nearly $7 million grant that will fund efforts to boost the cyber resilience of medical devices and other healthcare equipment.
The manufacturer is partnering with the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (APRA-H), which is a biomedical funding agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With it, Siemens will develop and implement cybersecurity practices that will better protect health organizations’ information technology and enterprise systems. The partnership is expected to advance APRA-H's Universal Patching and Remediation for Autonomous Defense (UPGRADE) program, which is conducting an ongoing Secure Healthcare Infrastructure Enhancement and Defense (SHIELD) project.
The SHIELD project deploys an exa-scale simulation—consisting of more than one quintillion operations per second, according to Siemens—that identifies the most optimal solutions for cyber resilience within medical technology products, especially those involved in the continuity of care for patients. This includes imaging equipment, which often must go offline when an organization experiences a cyberattack.
These shutdowns are costly both financially and in terms of patient care. The SHIELD project seeks to develop ways to avoid shutdowns and minimize the effects of cyberattacks. The project also is targeting ways to improve regular security updates, which are typically done manually and intermittently, making them both time-consuming and cumbersome. SHIELD is seeking to develop autonomous solutions to address this, focusing on device and equipment interactions that occur within hospitals, including specialty areas such as imaging.
Siemens Healthineers will serve as the principal research institution for the project, with its AI Factory in Princeton, New Jersey, acting as the primary research hub.
“As AI and automation continue to advance, it is essential to address cybersecurity risks with diligence," Dorin Comaniciu, senior VP of artificial intelligence and digital innovation at Siemens Healthineers, said in a statement June 10. "By determining effective remediation strategies, we help safeguard patient data and ensure the continuous operation of major imaging equipment,”
"By collaborating with experts and leveraging data and technology, we can deliver faster, more effective protection where it matters most," added Carlos Arglebe, head of cybersecurity at Siemens Healthineers. “This ARPA-H-funded project represents a unique opportunity to jointly advance cybersecurity across the healthcare ecosystem.”
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.