Real Clear Policy recently featured “Keep CCP Spyware Out of U.S. Healthcare” by Michael Lucci. It highlights that federal agencies are raising alarms about the presence of Chinese spyware in U.S. healthcare systems. Lucci warns that products such as patient monitors, DNA sequencers, internet-connected cameras, and routers from Chinese companies may provide backdoor access to sensitive data for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In his op-ed, Lucci writes:
Here’s the problem: Chinese companies in America are beholden to two contradictory sets of laws – American laws that require data privacy and Chinese laws that require intelligence work. China’s Communist Party has effectively obliterated the distinction between “private sector” Chinese companies and the surveillance state they all must serve. The solution requires a concerted effort by U.S. policymakers, state and federal law enforcement, and American corporations to keep CCP spyware out of U.S. healthcare.
Patient healthcare monitors provide attending physicians with a live feed of a patient’s vital signs. Disturbingly, Chinese monitors that are sold throughout the U.S. come with suspicious additional features. “Contec CMS8000 Contains a Backdoor,” reads a February fact sheet from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) matched CISA’s warning with a safety communication titled “Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities with Certain Patient Monitors from Contec and Epsimed.” CISA analysts discovered one functionality that “enables patient data spillage,” and another “which may allow remote code execution and device modification.” In other words, hackers can potentially steal patient data and alter the device’s readings.
Read the full article Keep CCP Spyware Out of U.S. Healthcare at RealClearPolicy.com
