Medical device security is the set of controls used to protect connected clinical equipment such as infusion pumps, monitors, imaging systems, and lab devices. These systems often run specialized software, have long service lives, and cannot always be patched or rebooted like ordinary IT assets. Security teams must balance confidentiality, integrity, availability, and patient safety, because a change that looks harmless in office technology may disrupt treatment or calibration in a clinical environment.
This matters because attackers often target the weakest link in a hospital network. A vulnerable device can be used as an entry point, a pivot to other systems, or a way to interfere with care operations. Defenses usually include asset inventory, network segmentation, strong authentication, vendor access controls, logging, vulnerability management, and testing procedures that respect regulatory and safety constraints. Good medical device security reduces the chance that cyber incidents become clinical incidents.