Critical Healthcare Systems Aren't Quantum-Ready

The situation is particularly acute for Internet-exposed healthcare systems, many of which lack support for TLS 1.3, the foundation for deploying standardized post-quantum cryptography.

Examples of OT/IoT assets in healthcare delivery organizations include VoIP phones, printers, point-of-sale systems, kiosks and physical-security equipment.

Forescout also identified more than 5,500 healthcare systems containing electronic medical records and medical imaging data that were reachable from the public Internet.

"The main takeaway is that healthcare organizations should start preparing now, before large-scale quantum attacks become practical," warns Daniel Trivellato, Forescout's vice president of OT, healthcare, and cyber-risk solutions.

The fact that 50% IT systems in Forescout's survey were PQC-ready yet only 31% of Internet-exposed healthcare systems supported TLS 1.3 is also noteworthy.