Boston Scientific has become the latest medical technology (medtech) company to be hit by a major cyber incident, leading to widespread IT disruption.
The US-headquartered firm said in a brief statement published on August 26 that the incident was identified a day earlier and affected “certain information technology systems.” It resulted in “a network outage and disruption to the company’s operations,” the firm added.
“Once detected, the company activated incident response protocols and began an investigation to assess and contain the threat with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity experts,” the notice continued.
“The incident has impacted access to certain operating systems and business applications, including the ability to process and ship customer orders.”
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An SEC Form 8-K filing by the firm added that the incident had caused “global” disruption.
The firm said it is currently working to restore impacted functions and system access, but added that “the timeline for a full restoration is not yet known.”
Boston Scientific is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical devices, boasting 59,000 staff, a commercial presence in 127 countries and net sales of around $20bn. The firm claims that its products help treat over 48 million patients every year.
Huntress senior manager of security operations, Dray Agha, warned of a potentially serious knock-on effect.
“When a major manufacturer is paralysed and unable to process or ship medical orders, the disruption creates immediate ripple effects that can ultimately delay critical treatments and impact patient care down the line,” he argued.
“Modern cyber-attacks quickly bridge the gap between digital networks and physical operations, and this should underscore why manufacturing and medical tech companies must prioritize strict network segmentation, ensuring that an intrusion in one corporate IT environment doesn’t completely derail global business continuity.”
A Growing List of Medtech Victims
Boston Scientific is one of a growing number of medtech firms hit by cyber-attacks this year.
In April, Medtronic confirmed a data breach after being targeted by ShinyHunters.
In June, iRhythm Technologies reported unauthorized activity involving data held in third-party applications.
A month later, Abbott Laboratories said it was investigating two incidents involving unauthorized access, at its cancer diagnostics business and its LabCentral portal, although the firm reportedly claimed there was no operational impact.
Perhaps the incident closest to Boston Scientific’s is the March attack on Stryker by pro-Iranian threat actors, who used Intune to wipe corporate devices and force a shut down of the firm’s global offices.
Ross Filipek, CISO at Corsica Technologies, said the priority for the Boston Scientific security team will now be on containment and recovery.
“Security teams need constant visibility into what was affected and which systems are safe to bring back online,” he added.
“In healthcare, downtime carries operational consequences quickly. Strong incident response has to protect the environment while helping the business restore critical services as safely and efficiently as possible.”
