Radiology, like the rest of medicine, is susceptible to cyberattacks. One recent study estimated that more than 1 billion medical images are exposed online via vulnerabilities in picture archiving and communication systems across the globe. But how prepared is the average radiologist to prevent such attacks in this new era of digital warfare?
The American Journal of Roentgenology recently convened a blue-ribbon panel of experts to chew over this predicament. Those involved included a radiologist hacker, prominent cybersecurity researchers from three countries outside the U.S., and a top authority on the DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine) file format.
They outline three steps radiologists can take to cyber-safeguard practices in their “call to action” for the field, set to be published in the April edition of AJR.
“To mitigate these vulnerabilities, all major players must do their part, from DICOM security leaders at the core of the DICOM world to radiologists as endpoint users and readers,” wrote Benoit Desjardins, MD and PhD, a radiologist and security expert with Penn Medicine, and colleagues. “Cyberattacks will pervade life in years to come, even more than they currently do. They have the power to quickly bring down entire hospitals, multinational corporations, cities and even possibly countries,” they added later.
