Federal Authorities Issue Alert for Cybersecurity Threat

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two federal agencies are warning of an "imminent cybercrime threat" to US hospitals and health care providers, noting that several hospitals across the country have already been affected. In a joint advisory, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said they have "credible information" that cybercriminals are seeking to take advantage of health care providers and public health agencies as they face a growing number of COVID-19 cases. 

CISA, FBI, and HHS are sharing this information to provide warning to healthcare providers to ensure that they take timely and reasonable precautions to protect their networks from these threats. Those agencies are also encouraging healthcare organizations to maintain business continuity plans—the practice of executing essential functions through emergencies (e.g., cyberattacks) to minimize service interruptions.

Physician anesthesiologists should be vigilant and work with their hospital and facility administrations to take precautions and mitigate any cybersecurity threat.

• US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-302a
• US Food and Drug Administration: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/cybersecurity. This website contains general cybersecurity information and instructions for health care providers to use the MedWatch voluntary report form (Form 3500) to report a cybersecurity issue with a medical device.
• For urgent matters, such as potential medical device impacts related to a cyber attack affecting your hospital system, please contact [email protected].
• American Medical Association Information on Cybersecurity: https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/sustainability/physician-cybersecurity
• American Hospital Association Information on Cybersecurity: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/2020-10/ama-aha-technology-considerations.pdf 

For more information, please contact the ASA Department of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at [email protected].