Ensuring safety as tech controls our health

IN LATE October, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) announced a new Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme for Medical Devices (CLS-MD), jointly with the Ministry of Health, Health Sciences Authority and Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS). The scheme addresses the growing need to better appreciate cybersecurity risks of connected medical devices, which have become ubiquitous not only in clinics and hospitals but in our daily life.

This came shortly after the Healthier SG initiative unveiled key features to encourage people to take charge of their health, which will result in an increased reliance on a common healthcare technology infrastructure that improves the sharing of data and information for effective and efficient healthcare services delivery.

As innovation in the sector is accelerating, we are seeing more advanced and connected medical devices coming to the market and being adopted by consumers and healthcare service providers. There is also an increased prominence of software as a medical device (SaMD) and software in a medical device (SiMD).