AS HEARD ON: WGAN Mornings News with Matt Gagnon: Security Issues Introduced by Internet-Connected Medical Devices know as IoMT and more

Good morning everybody!

I was on with Matt this morning and we had a good discussion about the security problems introduced by internet-connected medical devices know as IoMT. Let's get into my conversation with Matt on WGAN.

These and more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com

---

Automated Machine Generated Transcript:

Craig
We still today have some of that same equipment that hospitals had 20 years ago. And most of it never gets updated. And the big reason is they say, Well listen, if we change the software in it if we do an update or an upgrade then recertification is necessary. Hey, happy hump day, everybody. Greg Peters here on this morning on mains radio stations with Matt, and we talked about a couple of my top issues this week. Matt always picks the best ones out of the hat.

Matt
736 on the WGAN Morning News. It is Wednesday morning. On a Wednesday at that time means that it's time to talk to Craig Peterson, our tech guru joins us on Wednesdays to talk about all things technology. Craig, welcome to the program.

Craig
Hey, that's me.

Matt
That it is. You are also heard at this very station some other time. Right? What is it exactly that you're on this thing? The weekend or something? I don't know.

Unknown Speaker 1:04
Saturday at one o'clock. We go into, of course, more detail and, and more of the articles that I publish every week. Like those, I send it to you, Matt.

Matt
Indeed, indeed. So let's talk I was talking a moment ago about telehealth and whatnot. So let's get the health prognosis on the security of some cool devices known as IoMT devices. Am I getting that right?

Craig
Yeah, exactly. That's the internet of medical things.

Matt
Ah, another good acronym for me to remember.

Craig
Exactly. Well, at least, you know, in the computer world, we have a lot of TLS three-letter acronyms. And this is an FMLA, a four-letter acronym. Oh, yeah.

Matt
All right. Well, it's a good question, though. Because with all of the medical connections we're making, I guess you could say. People are probably very concerned about the security of their health data and everything. Else than that, perhaps it is getting passed back and forth by these things. So how, how secure are they?

Craig
Yeah, well, here's your big problem. These devices are utterly insecure, for the most part. Excellent. Isn't that wonderful? Good news. Good news. Welcome to Hump Day. Yeah, here's the problem. We have all of these medical equipment in our hospitals. That's hooked up to the internet. I remember the first time I got a chain of hospitals as a client, man, and this would have been the mid-90s, I think it was. And they had all of these different machines, X-ray machines and others hooked up to their network. And I started to look into it back then it's been a long time and found Well, first of all, they had a flat-network. They were doing everything wrong. But we still today have some of that same equipment that hospital had 20 years ago. And most of it never gets updated. And the big reason is they say, Well listen, if we change the software, and if we do it An update or an upgrade requiring recertification. We're talking about everything from pumps through an implanted, auto distributed, or pacemaker that might be in someone's chest, these x-ray machines, these CAT scan machines, all of these things. Hospitals do seem to think that they just cannot do an update because then they actually would violate the law. The federal government kind of cleared up over the last few weeks, here saying no, no, no, no, in fact, we are encouraging you to run updates. Put them on, because these older machines are still running, believe it or not, Windows 95 XP or Windows seven. Operating systems that are no longer supported. Many of these machines have never been upgraded, which puts us all at risk, in this case, physical peril.

Matt
I'm talking to Craig Peterson, our tech guru. He joins us periodically to talk about what's going on in the world of technology. Speaking of privacy, and questions like this, what's Amazon up to these days? I understand they told Congress something that was not true. Is that accurate?

Craig
One might think that that never happens, right? But here's what's going on. If you are a small business, of course, right now, things are probably more challenging for you than for a big retailer. Many small companies have been selling through Amazon, and it's been a great little channel for them. With almost half of the products sold on Amazon are being sold by third parties. But the problem that right now is that Amazon has come out with its own line products. Now, you might not be aware of this, but Amazon does have some of its own brands, that it's selling online. These are their private-labeled brand. There's more than 145 of them now. And you'll see them like Amazon essentials, which is Amazon, right and Amazon basic. They have other things like spotted zebra, which is a kid's clothing, clothing line, Hayden rose, stolen being those are all Amazon brands.
Now apparently, they lied to Congress. No, they told Congress that they don't use merchant data. What they were doing is looking at all of these small vendors saying what is selling? Well, what kind of a margin could we have if we sold the same or similar products and went right around that small vendor that might have developed this product, and then introducing them as one of these hundred and 45 private label brands? Several regulatory probes are starting up concerning this in the US and the European Union. They opened, in fact, the EU and investigation last year. And they're probing Amazon's use of quote, "competitively sensitive information about the marketplace, sellers, their product transactions on the marketplace," unquote, to boost their own retail business.

Matt
Craig Peterson, our tech guru, joins us on Wednesdays to talk about the world of technology. And you can hear him on this very station Saturdays at one o'clock, where he goes into more depth and detail about all of these stories and so many more, Greg, appreciate it as always, and we look forward to talking to you again next week.

Craig
Take care, man. Bye. You bet.

Matt
All right, coming up next. Hey, everybody, take care

Craig
Craig Peterson here and we'll be back this weekend with my radio show. Some more podcasts. I did a Facebook Live. I don't know if you were able to attend them this week. I did not promote them. But I will be, I'll tell you. We'll have people sign up for a select live list for my email, so make sure you're on that Craig peterson.com slash subscribe. Take care. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

---

More stories and tech updates at:

www.craigpeterson.com

Don't miss an episode from Craig. Subscribe and give us a rating:

www.craigpeterson.com/itunes

Follow me on Twitter for the latest in tech at:

www.twitter.com/craigpeterson

For questions, call or text:

855-385-5553