February 6, 2018

‘Computer Bugs in Hospitals: A New Killer’ – IT, cybersecurity and risk to patients

Healthcare is increasingly dependent on computers: in the management of hospital systems, monitoring of patient health, diagnostics, and in medical devices and implants themselves. Well-designed computer systems, competent management and design of IT systems, and security against attack are all crucial for patient safety.

Two experts in computer science and cybersecurity will be at the SMC (in advance of a Gresham College lecture they will deliver at the Museum of London later that day) about why they think patients are being put at risk from all three.

They will talk about the IT systems used and installed in healthcare today, and why they believe bugs, defective software and poor understanding of the IT are already directly harming patients.  They will discuss how Wannacry could have been far worse, why current cybersecurity measures are not fit for purpose, and why they think we should expect a major malicious attack on a healthcare system in the near future.

Speakers:

Prof. Martyn Thomas FREng, Livery Company Professor of Information Technology, Gresham College and Visiting Professor in Software Engineering at the Universities of Oxford, Aberystwyth and Bristol

Prof. Harold Thimbleby, Professor Emeritus of Geometry at Gresham College and Professor of Computer Science at Swansea University