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What you should know:
– The healthcare sector is facing a growing threat: cyberattacks targeting hospital IT systems. In response, the US government Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) pledged more than $50 million to fund a groundbreaking program called UPGRADE (Universal Patching and Remediation for Autonomous Defense).
– The success of UPGRADE has the potential to significantly improve hospital cybersecurity and protect patient care from cyber threats. By automating security measures and minimizing downtime, UPGRADE can revolutionize the way hospitals defend their IT systems, saving lives and ensuring uninterrupted care.
Safety Automation for Uninterrupted Care
UPGRADE aims to revolutionize hospital cybersecurity by automating the process of patching vulnerabilities and mitigating threats. This is especially crucial because traditional patching methods often require taking devices offline, which can disrupt critical patient care. UPGRADE seeks to develop software tools capable of:
- Scan for vulnerabilities: Continuously identify weaknesses in hospital IT systems.
- Deploy automated patches: Automatically install patches for identified threats, minimizing downtime.
- Develop and test solutions: Create and test custom defenses when pre-existing patches are not available.
Building a secure future for hospitals
The project will focus on four key areas:
- Vulnerability Mitigation Platform: Develop a central platform to manage and deploy security solutions.
- Digital twins for equipment: Creation of digital simulations of hospital equipment to safely test security patches.
- Automated fault detection: Build AI-powered systems to automatically identify vulnerabilities in real time.
- Custom defense development: Enable the platform to develop and deploy unique security solutions for specific threats.