Managing wireless security risks in medical services

Abstract

Medical systems are designed for a range of end users from different professional skill groups and people who carry the devices in and on their bodies. Open, accurate, and efficient communication is the priority for medical systems and consequently strong protection costs are traded against the utility benefits for open systems. In this paper we assess the vulnerabilities created by the professional and end user expectations, and theorise ways to mitigate wireless security vulnerabilities. The benefits of wireless medical services are great in terms of efficiencies, mobility, and information management. These benefits may be realised by treating the vulnerabilities and reducing the cost of adverse events. The purpose of this paper is to raise and to discuss key issues so that others may be motivated to treat the problems and to better optimise the trade-off for design improvement