ENISA , the European network security agency, is adding smart vehicles, hospitals and airports to its capabilities !
Smart cars, airports and hospitals are more likely to become targets for hackers – and now ENISA and the European network security agency have them under their watch too.
The organization added intelligent transportation systems and smart health services to its 2016 mandate. It plans to analyze all security risks that fall within their communications networks, and wants governments to take into account its recommendations for the security of these systems from 2017, it said on Monday.
The research will focus on the problems arising from the introduction of smart objects and machine-to-machine to replace, for example, humans in airport supply chains, for the delivery of spare parts to aircraft, whether it is for baggage conveyor belts, or for bottling water in airport shops.
In the transport sector , ENISA will focus on smart cars and smart roads, but not on public transport, as the stakes here are high, since European countries will have to decide whether to allow self-driving cars on public roads, since it has been found that even normal cars controlled by humans can be controlled remotely by attackers.
Healthcare area ripe for this research, with manufacturers finding that obscurity does not provide sufficient security for remotely programmed prosthetic devices, such as pacemakers or insulin pumps. Patients are willingly increasing the amount of health information that could potentially be leaked by frequently wearing fitness trackers or similar gadgets. If companies like Theranos convince regulators to allow them to carry hundreds of lab tests in a single electronic box, even the diagnoses could become targets for medical blackmail or life-threatening disruption. ENISA will look at cybersecurity risks in communication systems between hospitals, cloud service providers, insurance companies and smart labs.
While the organization tends not to hunt for software security vulnerabilities, it plays a role in gathering information about many threats to critical infrastructure and helping governments and companies plan their responses.
Airports, hospitals and vehicles are included in ENISA's work programme for 2016. In previous years, it had conducted similar studies on smart grids, homes, and internet infrastructure.
