DHS Awards Adventium $2.2M for Device Cybersecurity Research

Minneapolis-based Adventium Enterprises has received $2.2 million from the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate to develop technology that can help defend medical devices from cyberattacks.

The project, titled “Intrinsically Secure, Open, and Safe Control of Essential LayErS,” or ISOSCELES, aims to create and demonstrate an open source, reusable medical device architecture that could then be used by others as a starting point for building safe and secure networked medical devices, says Ken Hoyme, distinguished scientist with Adventium Labs.

“One aspect of significance is the recognition by DHS that there needs to be coordinated funding for work to improve our critical infrastructures — healthcare being one of the key areas identified in Presidential Policy Directive PPD-2 on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience,” he tells IDDM.

Networked systems, including medical devices, need to be designed with security as an operational requirement, says Dan Massey, S&T Cyber Physical Systems Security program manager at DHS. “This project is critical to securing hospital systems and patient safety,” he adds. — Jonathon Shacat