Health
Security and Efficiency for Digital Healthcare
The ongoing digital transformation in the healthcare sector offers enormous opportunities for medical care, but also poses new risks and vulnerabilities. The theft of sensitive health data from doctors’ offices or laboratories, or ransomware attacks on hospitals that bring patient care to a near standstill—in the worst-case scenario, attacks on healthcare IT can cost lives. This is precisely why the digital transformation in this sector requires the highest standards for the integrity and confidentiality of patients’ sensitive data, as well as for the IT security of systems.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) addresses the growing threats posed by cyberattacks with scientific expertise and practical solutions, ensuring that digital health applications and medical devices are not only user-friendly but also secure and trustworthy.
Our researchers focus on IT security and data protection for digital systems in the healthcare sector. They examine and test security architectures, as well as software and medical devices used in everyday clinical practice, in doctors’ offices, and across the entire telematics infrastructure, taking into account industry-specific standards such as DICOM for medical imaging and the data exchange formats FHIR and HL7. Fraunhofer SIT supports manufacturers and users in ensuring comprehensive security in the healthcare sector.
Our range of services in the health sector
Conducting security tests
Identification of vulnerabilities in existing systems through simulated attacks, penetration tests, and other methods
Product Reviews
IT Security Testing of Medical Products and Devices
Analysis and Evaluation of Security Architectures
Analysis of security concepts for effectiveness and compliance with current standards
Technical support for setting up systems
Support for the secure implementation of digital health applications/apps
Design and Development of Secure Architectures
Designing robust security concepts for new e-health applications
Training and Knowledge Transfer
Training healthcare professionals in safety skills
Fraunhofer SIT combines scientific research with practical solutions and supports health authorities, hospitals, and specialist medical centers, medical device manufacturers, health insurance companies, and other stakeholders in the healthcare sector in meeting the specific requirements for data protection and IT security. Our scientists always take into account the specific conditions of the healthcare sector, such as regulatory requirements, high availability demands, and the need for seamless integration into existing processes. Fraunhofer SIT possesses specialized legal expertise as well as practical experience in the field of telematics.
| + | Analysis of the ePA security architecture on behalf of gematik |
| + | Investigation of hospital information systems |
| + | Study on the security of digital nursing documentation systems |