Reports say that Medical imaging machines running on outdated software like Windows 2000 can give allow hackers to access and control of sensitive patient information

Medical imaging machines that are running on legacy infrastructure and using running outdated software like Windows 2000 can create a risk factor for hackers to access and gain control of confidential patient information. This could be a huge risk factor for patient records privacy and will affect the security foundations of hospital patients, according to a Check Point report. Cyber terrorists who gained entry to hospitals and their networks can easily connect to ultrasound imaging devices running old software that are often used to monitor pregnancies and other conditions, security specialist Check Point Software Technologies said on Thursday.

Attacks like the 2017 WannaCry ransomware virus that hit computers in at least 100 countries, spurred Check Point to investigate hackers’ potential techniques. That virus spread mainly through programs that lacked security updates, and cost the UK’s National Health Service alone some £92 million (S$164 million) in lost output and information technology costs, according to a report last year from the Department of Health & Social Care.

The vulnerability can stem from health devices running on software that is old; there is no security update or software updates since long. Hospitals often don’t want to take expensive machines off-line for an upgrade that makes time, loses patients and costs money.