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CobraPony67 t1_j2a7btq wrote

Reply to comment by gnoxy in Ransomware attacks on health care organizations on the rise by Ssider69

If it works, don't fix it. I assume it isn't connected to the internet and is running specialty software only. Nobody uses it to browse the web and read email on it.

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oboshoe t1_j2au45w wrote

let me tell you. they are connected to the internet. they are running XP. (they are connected to the same hospital network as everything else)

seen it in multiple hospitals with my own eyes.

furthermore. they cannot upgrade past XP or whatever they are running.

why? because if you change the software, then it's no longer FDA certified and cannot be used for patient care.

whatever software it was FDA certified on, is where it stays for the life of the machine.

the industry has been struggling with this for almost a decade now.

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gnoxy t1_j2efu7u wrote

They are in fact connected to the internet!

/u/oboshoe is correct regarding FDA cert. I had connect something that looked like a missile silo, with green screens running assembly from the 80s to a hospital network during COVID.

This is also true for your ultrasound carts being rolled around with a usb wifi dongles, and Xray units. Fuck, even the image storage software is running SQL 2005 or Access.

These things are purchased to be used for 30 to 50 years. Kind of like planes.

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