Potential measures to enhance information security compliance in the healthcare internet of things

Healthcare organisations are particularly vulnerable to information security threats and breaches due to the highly confidential nature of their patients’ medical information. Now, with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare that can vary from diagnostic devices to medical wearables, the industry has indeed become more vulnerable to malicious exploitation. One of the reasons that malicious attacks continue to occur at an alarming rate is due to the poor compliance of information security policies. This study investigates the issues that are associated with the causes for poor compliance within the private healthcare organisations in Malaysia. Data was collected through interviews from various healthcare respondents and findings have revealed that often, poor security compliance is mainly caused by behaviour issues and the severe lack of security awareness which requires immediate attention and mitigation. Potential measures to cultivate information security awareness and to safeguard the IoT-based medical devices are proposed to achieve compliance

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

The Tweet Advantage: An Empirical Analysis of 0-Day Vulnerability Information Shared on Twitter

Part 3: Secuirty Management / ForensicInternational audienceIn the last couple of years, the number of software vulnerabilities and corresponding incidents increased significantly. In order to stay up-to-date about these new emerging threats, organizations have demonstrated an increased willingness to exchange information and knowledge about vulnerabilities, threats, incidents and countermeasures. Apart from dedicated sharing platforms or databases, information on vulnerabilities is frequently shared on Twitter and other social media platforms. So far, little is known about the obtainable time advantage of vulnerability information shared on social media platforms. To close this gap, we identified 709,880 relevant Tweets and subsequently analyzed them. We found that information with high relevance for affected organizations is shared on Twitter often long before any official announcement or patch has been made available by vendors. Twitter is used as a crowdsourcing platform by security experts aggregating vulnerability information and referencing a multitude of public available webpages in their Tweets. Vulnerability information shared on Twitter can improve organizations reaction to newly discovered vulnerabilities and therefore help mitigating threats

Antecedents of Optimal Information Security Investment: IT Governance Mechanism and Organizational Digital Maturity

Part 4: Security, Privacy, Ethics and MisinformationInternational audienceInformation security risk is of concern to both researchers and practitioners. In this study, we investigate the antecedents of optimal information security investment from organizational perspective using the concept of information technology governance. Specifically, we examine how board attributes including IT savviness, board duality, experience, and functional debate along with an organizational attribute, digital maturity, influence optimal information security investments. Data was collected from board members in organization to test the research model. Our results offer both theoretical and practical implications