{"686720":{"#nid":"686720","#data":{"type":"news","title":"What if Hospitals Could Automatically Protect Patients from Cyber Threats?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA software update was missed for the program running your local hospital\u2019s X-ray machines. A hacker now controls all the machines and is demanding $500,000 in cryptocurrency be sent to an anonymous wallet; otherwise, he will shut down the entire radiology department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis scenario becomes more likely for hospitals of all sizes as medical technology advances, adding more devices to constantly growing networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the help of a contract award for up to $12 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arpa-h.gov\/explore-funding\/programs\/upgrade\u0022\u003EUPGRADE\u003C\/a\u003E program, a team of researchers led by the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech will begin developing an advanced cybersecurity platform to help hospitals proactively identify and fix vulnerabilities in their software, devices, and networks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a new area of security research,\u201d said Associate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EBrendan Saltaformaggio\u003C\/strong\u003E. \u201cWe not only have to worry about the cybersecurity aspect, but the physical security as well. Our research must be very accurate to make sure patients are safe from cyberthreats.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStarting next month, the team of researchers on the Hospital-Integrated Vulnerability Identification and Proactive Remediation (H-VIPER) project will begin developing a system they are calling the Whole-Hospital Simulation (WHS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system maps out the online network for hospitals of all sizes and enables IT teams to test their cyber capabilities before going live. The system can also identify threats, such as missed software updates, and alert the IT department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHospitals have thousands of devices connected to their networks, including medical devices,\u201d said Saltaformaggio. \u201cA hospital like Children\u2019s has a huge attack surface. A smaller hospital might have different challenges, but possible entry points are still there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team has already interviewed IT teams at Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta and Hamilton Health Care System. Their findings have provided them with a better understanding of how to scale the WHS system to meet each hospital\u2019s specific needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHospitals IT processes are notoriously sensitive to disruption, because essentially any kind of down time for rebooting a system or lack of availability can create chaos in the clinical environment,\u201d said \u003Cstrong\u003EStoddard Manikin\u003C\/strong\u003E, chief information security officer for Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to create very smooth processes and workflow for our patient facing staff and providers to deliver the best care possible. This research opportunity gives us a chance to develop news ways where we can look at these sensitive medical devices and things on the IT network in a healthcare environment and potentially remediate vulnerabilities without taking them out of service.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESaltaformaggio and his colleagues found that, regardless of size, security remains retroactive and not proactive. By leveraging their diverse expertise, the research team will ensure that the H-VIPER project addresses vulnerabilities at every layer of hospital technology, from the network to the hardware.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scp.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/a\u003E will lead this initiative, with faculty from the H-VIPER project also representing the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scs.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Computer Science\u003C\/a\u003E, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, along with support from their Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAround 30 Georgia Tech researchers will partner with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.emory.edu\/home\/index.html\u0022\u003EEmory University\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.choa.org\u0022\u003EChildren\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/vitruvianhealth.com\/locations\/hamilton-medical-center\/\u0022\u003EHamilton Health Care System\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tufts.edu\/\u0022\u003ETufts University\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iastate.edu\/\u0022\u003EIowa State University\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/narfindustries.com\/\u0022\u003ENarf Industries\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech faculty working on the project are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAssociate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EBrendan Saltaformaggio\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ERegents\u2019 Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EWenke Lee\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EProfessor \u003Cstrong\u003ETaesoo Kim\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EProfessor \u003Cstrong\u003EFabian Monrose\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAssistant Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EFrank Li\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAssociate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ESaman Zonouz\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAssociate Professor\u003Cstrong\u003E Daniel Genkin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EResearch Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ESukarno Mertoguno\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESenior Research Scientist \u003Cstrong\u003ETrevor Lewis\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the help of a contract award for up to $12 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a team of researchers led by the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech will begin developing an advanced cybersecurity platform to help hospitals proactively identify and fix vulnerabilities in their software, devices, and networks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With the help of a contract award for up to $12 million from ARPA-H, a team of researchers led by the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at will begin developing an advanced cybersecurity platform to protect hospitals. "}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2025-12-03 15:49:35","changed_gmt":"2025-12-08 17:08:45","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-12-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678753":{"id":"678753","type":"image","title":"Cyfi-Lab-Brendan.jpg","body":null,"created":"1764777096","gmt_created":"2025-12-03 15:51:36","changed":"1764777096","gmt_changed":"2025-12-03 15:51:36","alt":"A man points to a rack of computer monitors. Another man sits in front of a laptop with his back to the camera. ","file":{"fid":"262827","name":"Cyfi-No-Dict-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/03\/Cyfi-No-Dict-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/03\/Cyfi-No-Dict-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1596073,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/12\/03\/Cyfi-No-Dict-1.jpg?itok=nDkK4MSK"}}},"media_ids":["678753"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"193109","name":"arpa-h"},{"id":"2634","name":"grant"},{"id":"127901","name":"Contract"},{"id":"1404","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"344","name":"cyber"},{"id":"3532","name":"impact"},{"id":"4499","name":"hospitals"},{"id":"179869","name":"partners"},{"id":"340","name":"collaboration"},{"id":"1129","name":"healthcare"},{"id":"194701","name":"go-resarchnews"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u0026nbsp;Communications Officer II | School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}