{"id":207406,"date":"2026-04-30T09:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/30\/runsafe-index-reports-that-healthcare-cybersecurity-gaps-are-widening-faster-than-existing-defenses-can-close-them\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T09:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:50:12","slug":"runsafe-index-reports-that-healthcare-cybersecurity-gaps-are-widening-faster-than-existing-defenses-can-close-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/30\/runsafe-index-reports-that-healthcare-cybersecurity-gaps-are-widening-faster-than-existing-defenses-can-close-them\/","title":{"rendered":"RunSafe Index reports that healthcare cybersecurity gaps are widening faster than existing defenses can close them"},"content":{"rendered":"

RunSafe Index reports that healthcare cybersecurity gaps are widening faster than existing defenses can close them<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/industrialcyber.co\/medical\/runsafe-index-reports-that-healthcare-cybersecurity-gaps-are-widening-faster-than-existing-defenses-can-close-them\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-04-30 09:07:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: industrialcyber.co<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

New research from RunSafe Security highlights growing operational and clinical impact of cyber threats targeting connected healthcare technology. The 2026 Medical Device Cybersecurity Index shows that 24% of healthcare organizations report medical devices being affected by cyber incidents, while 80% of those attacks result in disruptions to patient care. The findings underline how cybersecurity has shifted from a technical concern to a direct patient safety issue, reinforcing its role as a core requirement in medical device purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Index moves beyond surface-level trends to examine the forces driving them, capturing how healthcare organizations are confronting the rapid adoption of AI-enabled medical devices and the new risks they introduce, continued reliance on unsupported and vulnerable legacy systems in clinical environments, and emergence of runtime protection and continuous monitoring as adaptive defense mechanisms. Together, these findings highlight that cybersecurity risk in healthcare is increasing, and existing defenses are struggling to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings land against a backdrop of large-scale healthcare cyber incidents that have disrupted care delivery and revenue flows, underscoring how quickly attacks on device-adjacent systems can translate into patient harm,\u201d Joseph M. Saunders, founder and CEO of RunSafe Security, said in a media statement. \u201cMedical device cybersecurity is increasing in importance to healthcare buyers as they see it as a patient safety and regulatory imperative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healthcare organizations are making measurable progress in integrating cybersecurity into procurement, operations, and investment decisions, with security increasingly shaping the evaluation and adoption of medical technologies. Cybersecurity has now become a procurement gate, with 84% of organizations including cybersecurity requirements in vendor RFPs, up from 38% in 2025, and 43% with detailed requirements. More than half, or 56%, have already rejected a device due to cybersecurity concerns, rising from 46% the previous year.<\/p>\n

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) adoption has also become mainstream, with nearly 81% of respondents rating an SBOM as important or essential when evaluating devices, up from 78% in 2025. Notably, 35% say they will not consider a device without one. Regulatory pressure is also shaping purchasing behavior, with nearly 79% of respondents reporting that FDA cybersecurity guidance or EU MDR requirements have meaningfully influenced their procurement processes, up from 73% in 2025.<\/p>\n

At the same time, investment in cybersecurity capabilities continues to grow, with 77% of organizations increasing cybersecurity resources over the past 12 months, compared to 75% in 2025. Confidence in detection and containment has also improved modestly, with 22% now describing themselves as extremely confident, compared to 17% in the previous year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Runtime protection is gaining momentum, with 82% of organizations either deploying or actively piloting these tools, including 29% with broad deployment and 53% in partial rollout, reflecting growing demand for defenses that can operate when patching is not immediately possible. Despite a slight dip from 79% in 2025, 76% of respondents still say they are willing to pay a premium for devices with advanced cybersecurity protections, with nearly half willing to pay 5% or more, signaling sustained pressure on manufacturers to embed security by design.<\/p>\n

However, RunSafe notes that underlying risks remain significant and, in many cases, are increasing in both severity and impact. Cybersecurity concern is widespread, with 59% of respondents describing themselves as extremely or very concerned about a cyber incident affecting medical devices, while 24% of facilities report having already experienced such an attack.<\/p>\n

The consequences of these incidents are increasingly tangible. Among organizations that experienced a cyberattack, 80% reported a moderate or significant impact on patient care, up from 75% in 2025. Nearly half of affected organizations cited extended hospital stays and the need for manual workarounds, with recovery times continuing to lengthen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the same time, legacy device exposure remains a critical issue, with 28% of organizations operating devices beyond end-of-support and 44% acknowledging the use of end-of-support systems with known, unpatched vulnerabilities. The growing adoption of AI-enabled or AI-assisted medical devices is adding another layer of complexity, with 57% of organizations already using such technologies and 80% expressing at least moderate concern about the cybersecurity risks they introduce.<\/p>\n

RunSafe reported that cybersecurity incidents are happening and harming patients, while cybersecurity risk in medical devices is growing. The share of organizations that have experienced a cyberattack or exploited vulnerability affecting a medical device has risen from 22% in 2025 to 24% in 2026. More troubling is the severity: among those hit, the proportion reporting moderate or significant patient care impact climbed from 75% in 2025 to 80% in 2026. Despite more investment, more awareness, and stricter procurement, attacks are becoming more frequent and more harmful when they land.<\/p>\n

The incident types cited by respondents reflect the breadth of real-world threat vectors targeting healthcare environments. Malware infections requiring device quarantine were the most common, reported by 48% of respondents, followed by network intrusions requiring device isolation at 41% and remote access exploitation at 38%. Ransomware affecting device operation and vendor-identified vulnerabilities requiring urgent patching were each reported by 32% of organizations, while 21% cited data exfiltration from connected devices. Supply chain compromises accounted for 18% of incidents, and memory-based attacks were reported by 14%.<\/p>\n

Compared with 2025, when malware infections at 51% and network intrusions at 44% dominated, the emergence of remote access exploitation as a major threat in 2026 signals a shift in attacker tactics as they increasingly target the expanding remote access footprint of connected devices. This trend highlights that organizations lacking strong network segmentation, access controls, and runtime protections remain particularly exposed to evolving attack methods.<\/p>\n

RunSafe finds that legacy devices remain a persistent and underappreciated cybersecurity risk, with the most pressing challenge for healthcare organizations stemming not from newly purchased technologies, but from aging systems they cannot easily replace. This finding is new to the 2026 Index. Nearly three in ten organizations operate medical devices that are past the manufacturer\u2019s end-of-support, and a significant proportion of those devices carry known, unpatched vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

The report finds that cybersecurity has become a hard gate in procurement, as rising risk forces healthcare organizations to rethink how they evaluate and purchase medical devices. Security is no longer a secondary checklist item but a deciding factor that can determine whether a device is approved or rejected. Cybersecurity is now a key consideration in medical device procurement, and the 2026 data shows the trend accelerating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Survey data shows that the overwhelming majority of healthcare organizations have integrated cybersecurity requirements into their vendor evaluation processes and that these requirements are having a measurable impact on purchasing outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regulatory pressure is also shaping decision-making, with 79% of organizations stating that regulations have significantly or moderately influenced procurement. Within this group, 32% describe the impact as significant and 47% as moderate, while 15% say they anticipate regulatory impact in the future but have not yet been affected.<\/p>\n

Software Bills of Materials have effectively become a procurement requirement, with 81% of organizations rating SBOMs as important or essential. Around 35% say they will not consider a device without an SBOM, while 46% report that SBOMs strongly influence their purchasing decisions. Only 1.5% say SBOMs are not currently important, while 4.4% of respondents say they are unfamiliar with SBOMs, a sign that the concept has permeated beyond IT and security into clinical and procurement leadership. SBOMs are also being operationalized across procurement, security tooling, and cross-functional teams.<\/p>\n

Runtime protection is gaining traction as a defensive strategy, with 82% of organizations either widely deploying or piloting runtime exploit protection. Adoption varies in depth, with 29% reporting broad deployment across devices and 53% implementing it on a partial basis, while 40% say they are actively seeking devices with built-in runtime protection capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, 36% of organizations actively sought devices with runtime protections in procurement, and another 38% were aware of the technology but had not yet required it,\u201d RunSafe reported. \u201cThe 2026 survey asked respondents about their deployment of these protections, and 82% of organizations report having deployed runtime exploit protection or actively piloting it. The awareness in procurement and the levels of real-world deployment point to the compounding pressure of unpatchable legacy devices and rising attack frequency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healthcare organizations are continuing to increase cybersecurity investment, with 77% reporting higher cybersecurity resources over the past 12 months. Of these, 21% say resources have increased significantly, while 56% report a more moderate increase, and only 0.7% indicate a decrease.<\/p>\n

Data identified that organizations are reinforcing their cybersecurity efforts with sustained investment. Budget signals indicate that medical device and operational technology (OT) security are now treated as ongoing strategic priorities rather than one-time initiatives. In 2025, 75% of organizations increased their medical device and OT security budgets. In 2026, that figure has risen to 77%, with 21% reporting a significant increase.<\/p>\n

The report also pointed out that more than half of surveyed organizations (57%) are already using AI-enabled or AI-assisted medical devices or clinical systems. This rapid adoption is outpacing confidence in understanding the associated cybersecurity risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gap between AI adoption (57%) and high concern levels (46%) suggests that many organizations are deploying AI-assisted clinical tools without a clear understanding of the cybersecurity implications,\u201d RunSafe identified. \u201cThis pattern mirrors what the 2025 data showed about connected devices more broadly\u2014rapid adoption outpacing security readiness. The industry appears to be entering a second version of that same curve, this time with AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 findings point to a widening gap between effort and outcome. Healthcare organizations are improving procurement practices, expanding SBOM use, increasing budgets, and deploying runtime protections, but those gains are not translating into reduced risk. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, their impact on patient care is intensifying, and exposure from legacy, unpatchable systems remains entrenched. The data suggests that while defenses are improving at the surface level, the core drivers of risk, including aging infrastructure, growing connectivity, and the adoption of new technologies, are advancing faster than mitigation efforts.<\/p>\n

The report urges healthcare organizations to move beyond procurement-led security and focus on reducing risk across their existing device environments. It calls for more rigorous and standardized cybersecurity requirements in purchasing, including mandating SBOMs, runtime protection, patching commitments, and vendor disclosure practices. At the same time, organizations need to address the persistent risks posed by legacy devices by deploying compensating controls such as runtime exploit protection, particularly in high-risk clinical settings.<\/p>\n

It also stresses importance of maintaining a complete and continuously updated device inventory, warning that confidence levels may not reflect actual visibility gaps. As AI-enabled medical technologies become more widespread, the report recommends developing dedicated cybersecurity frameworks to evaluate these systems, with a focus on transparency, resilience to adversarial inputs, and ongoing monitoring after deployment.<\/p>\n

RunSafe makes clear that for medical device manufacturers, cybersecurity is no longer optional but a baseline requirement for market access and a source of competitive differentiation. Providing an SBOM is now a minimum expectation rather than a value add, while embedding runtime protection into device architecture is becoming critical to address both legacy risks and new procurement demands. Manufacturers are also expected to demonstrate strong post-market security commitments, including patching and vulnerability disclosure processes, and to engage directly with IT and cybersecurity stakeholders who now play a central role in purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n

At the broader industry level, the report argues that procurement improvements alone are not enough to reduce systemic risk. Regulators and ecosystem players need to address deeper challenges such as securing legacy devices, setting clear expectations for AI-enabled systems, and aligning incentives for long-term device support. While progress has been made in how organizations evaluate and buy secure technologies, meaningful risk reduction will depend on securing existing infrastructure and anticipating emerging threats alongside strengthening requirements for new devices.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, the report identified that healthcare has operationalized medical device cybersecurity, but the threat landscape is advancing faster than the controls designed to stop it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2026 data tells two stories simultaneously. The first is a story of genuine progress. Procurement requirements are stricter, SBOM adoption has reached a tipping point, budgets have grown for the second consecutive year, and runtime protection has moved from a niche capability to mainstream deployment in a single year,\u201d the report said. \u201cThe second story is harder. Attacks on medical devices are more frequent than they were twelve months ago, the impact on patient care when incidents occur has worsened, and a quarter of organizations are operating devices with known, unpatched vulnerabilities in their most critical care settings\u2014 emergency departments, ICUs, and operating rooms. AI-enabled devices are being adopted faster than security frameworks can keep pace, tracing a curve the industry has seen before with connected devices and has not yet learned to get ahead of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RunSafe highlighted that the lesson of the past year is not that investment and attention are failing, but that the risk is moving at least as fast as the response. \u201cClosing that gap will require more than procurement rigor and budget growth. It will require security built into devices before they reach clinical environments, as well as the ability to protect devices already in place that cannot be replaced. That is where the industry\u2019s work remains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAnna Ribeiro\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIndustrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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