UK probes data security in smart medical devices

The UK is turning the spolight on smart medical devices, with the Information Commissioner's Office issuing its first survey into the use of data collected by devices.

The ICO offers a free auditing service for healthcare and IT professionals to verify data protection standards, as well as an advisory service for improvement.

To complete the survey, click here. The ICO statement says: "Maybe you work with an X-ray machine that immediately sends results to other devices across your IT network, or a heart scanner that uses personal information collected elsewhere to help identify patients at risk of suffering a heart attack, then we’d like to hear from you."

Specifically, the respondents should work in the fields of IT, electrical/biomedical engineering, procurement or data protection/compliance.

The UK is following the lead of the Department of Homeland Security in the US, which has taken a handful of devices aside to investigate security flaws as smart capabilities continue to evolve.