First Health Advisory Solutions (First), vendor of medical device security services, and Zingbox, provider of healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) analytics platform, announced a partnership to provide a comprehensive security and operations solution for connected healthcare assets.
The unified approach, managing the increasing reliance on the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), will relieve healthcare delivery organizations of operational and technical challenges of identifying, securing and maintaining all types of connected assets.
The combined offering, IoMT Guardian, will leverage Zingbox’s healthcare analytics platform for real-time protection of hospitals and their environment by documenting all connected medical devices, onboard new devices, secure against ransomware/malware, and optimize device utilization.
In concert with the Zingbox platform, First’s IoMT services will provide customers with a holistic, managed solution that will address asset governance, legacy device security strategies, lifecycle management, as well as rapid response to threats.
First combines security, device operations, analytics and policy insight to bring healthcare delivery organizations impactful and cost-conscious services that immediately reduce enterprise risk.
As the healthcare IoT footprint widens, First’s IoMT Guardian program bolsters readiness from assessment to detect and response via comprehensive management of connected assets. The company’s flexible engagements accelerate internal efforts while providing an outside perspective of posture as it relates to patient safety, security and medical device vulnerabilities.
Zingbox helps hospitals realize the full potential of their IoT medical devices, delivering a new standard for uninterrupted quality care through device inventory, management, security, and optimization for the IoT environment. Its device-specific AI-powered machine learning platform uses real-time deep behavioral learning technology for connected medical devices.
“IoMT Guardian will foster collaboration and clarity of device ownership in previously ambiguous areas of responsibility,” said Carter Groome, co-founder and CEO of First. “Our comprehensive solution with Zingbox addresses both the technical and operational blind spots many organizations are facing today with connected assets, including policy navigation, patching strategy, network design and clinical engineering involvement. We are proud to be a partner of Zingbox, as our successful co-engagements have shown immediate value in managing risk.”
“Healthcare industry faces a growing challenge in securing their connected medical devices. From accurate inventory and real-time security protection to gaining operational insights, they face a daunting task,” said Xu Zou, CEO and co-founder of Zingbox. “We are excited to partner with First Health Advisory Solutions to bring together the most widely deployed healthcare IoT analytics platform and the industry-proven services for assessment, policy enforcement and other managed services.”
Last month, Zingbox partnered with the non-profit Medical Device Innovation, Safety and Security Consortium (MDISS). Working together, the two organizations will advance best practices for the acquisition and sharing of cyber risk data for medical devices. The partnership will deliver in real time key information to enable optimally configured and secured devices for patient safety and privacy.
Zingbox will incorporate MDISS risk content, including Manufacturer Disclosure Statement for Medical Device Security (MDS2) information based on access control protocols developed by MDISS with input from manufacturers and health systems, into the Zingbox IoT Guardian solution.
The combination of Zingbox’s real-time analysis of medical device security, manufacturer device specifications, and standards-based risk assessment data will advance the overall security and safety of connected medical devices. In addition, integrating real-world device usage and behavior analytics will augment the existing MDISS cyber risk database with detailed inner workings of the device and network along with cybersecurity events.
