Malware that can inject fake cancerous nodes into CT scans created by security researchers
A team of security researchers at Ben-Gurion University's Cyber Security Research Centre in Israel claim to have created proof-of-concept malware that can alter computed tomography (CT) scans making it appear as if a sick patient is healthy or that a healthy patient has cancer.
The aim of the research was to draw attention to cybersecurity issues associated with networked medical equipment, and to show how attackers can use malicious programmes to dupe doctors into misdiagnosing patients.
According to the researchers, the malware can add realistic, cancerous lesions or nodules to MRI or CT scans before those scans are examined by radiologists and doctors. The malware can also remove real malignant growths in scans without detection, leading to misdiagnoses. In the study, the research team demonstrated the attack by getting the permission from a hospital to secretly hack a CT scanning machine and network.
