New York-based Cynerio is offering a free healthcare IoT risk assessments as Microsoft retires its Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system.

The company says that millions of critical IoT and connected medical devices could lose cyber support on the heels of rising ransomware attacks when Microsoft retires the operating system this week.

As such, Cynerio is offering healthcare facilities in North America a free risk assessment until the end of the month in support of CISA’s National Cyber Awareness Month.

Support for the operating system ended on Tuesday, October 13, leaving millions of healthcare IoT devices wide open to the rising tide of cyber attacks aimed at the notoriously vulnerable healthcare sector. The free risk assessment will provide healthcare organisations with a real-time inventory of devices running legacy operating systems and actionable recommendations on how to mitigate the risks.

Many healthcare IoT and laboratory and imaging devices run Windows Embedded Standard 7, including x-ray machines, dicom workstations and medicine dispensers provided by vendors such as Philips, GE and Hologic. Further, many of these devices cannot be upgraded, as many vendors do not release new OS versions.

Due to the pervasive use of legacy OS, alongside medical devices’ long life cycles, 40% of healthcare facilities have fallen victim to insidious cyber attacks in the last year, with the most recent ransomware attacks causing full facility shutdowns and the death of a patient.

The Cynerio platform leverages AI to deliver actionable insights into medical devices, enterprise IoT and OT systems. The full-suite platform automates asset discovery, anomaly detection and risk scoring according to device criticality and clinical impact. Then, it ensures continuous operations and device functionality with robust security policies for healthcare organisations.

“With the onslaught of cyber crimes directed at our medical facilities today, it’s more important than ever to make sure our healthcare organisations are cyber aware and cyber secure,” said Leon Lerman, CEO and co-founder of Cynerio. “Microsoft’s retirement of the Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system this month comes at a pivotal moment for healthcare. As a healthcare IoT cyber-security provider, it’s our duty to empower hospitals with the awareness and insights to overcome the threat, secure their infrastructures and protect the assets we rely on to save patient lives.”

Cynerio is a one-stop-shop healthcare IoT security platform. With products that cater for healthcare IT needs from enterprise IoT to OT and IoMT, it promotes cross-organisational alignment and gives hospitals the control, foresight and adaptability they require to stay cyber secure in a constantly evolving threatscape.