FDA, facing cybersecurity threats, tightens medical-device standards

The security analysts wanted to know how easy it would be to hack into medical devices used in hospitals, knowing the danger if outsiders could gain control. They found the answer when they managed to figure out hundreds of passwords for equipment that included surgical and anesthesia devices, patient monitors and lab analysis tools. "We stopped after we got to 300," said Billy Rios, who found the passwords with his colleague Terry McCorkle. They alerted the federal government about what they had done, contributing to the Food and Drug Administration's decision to tighten the standards for a wide range of medical devices.