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Smartwatches, glucose sensors, and connected drug-monitoring devices are common in care programs. Remote monitoring helps detect changes early and supports personalized treatment and long-term condition management. They give clinicians valuable insight into patient health but also introduce new exposure points.
As more care shifts outside hospital walls, sensitive information crosses networks that few organizations can see end to end.
Security leaders are paying attention. “Consider the devastating consequences of bad actors attacking remote patient monitoring devices, ventilators, or a smart medical device connected to a patient. As the healthcare industry continues to become more technologically advanced, the more access points exist for potential harm,” warned Eric Demers, CEO of Madaket Health.
Who owns your health data?
Healthcare wearable devices collect constant streams of sensitive data such as heart rate, glucose levels, and movement. These readings pass through several systems, and each step introduces a chance for interception or misuse.
One of the most common questions users ask is: where does that data go? To the device maker, the user, or the healthcare provider? Some companies that produce wearable devices sell anonymized health data to third parties, including advertisers and research groups. While this is usually legal, it still raises concerns about privacy and control.
Few users realize how much data their wearables share beyond the device, or how little control they have once it leaves their hands. For hospitals, this uncertainty creates compliance exposure. If a device transmits patient data to a non-covered cloud, the healthcare provider could still face liability even if it never touched their servers.
The Federal Trade Commission’s 2024 update to the Health Breach Notification Rule now includes health apps and wearables that fall outside HIPAA. This means companies handling wearable data must notify users and regulators of breaches, even when they are not traditional healthcare entities.
One study found that sensitive health data moves through Android healthcare apps with little protection. Some send information without encryption, store files insecurely, and share it through third-party components.
When device failures turn into patient harm
Data isn’t the only thing at risk when someone gains unauthorized access to a device. A recent case, caused by a system failure rather than a cyberattack, shows how quickly technical faults can affect human life.
More than 220 people with diabetes were injured after the t:connect iOS app repeatedly crashed and drained battery power from connected t:slim X2 insulin pumps, causing the pumps to shut down early and stop insulin delivery.
In another example, researchers at University College London identified cybersecurity gaps in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wearable medical devices such as ECG monitors, oximeters, and blood pressure sensors. Using low-cost testing tools, they performed Man-in-the-Middle, data manipulation, and disruption attacks that intercepted and changed signals between the devices and their mobile apps.
Hidden risks in the device supply chain
The spread of remote patient monitoring and home-based care depends on a wide network of connected medical devices. Each sensor, chip, and software module comes through a global supply chain with many vendors.
A range of key components, such as processors, wireless modules, and circuit boards, are made or assembled in China. Concentrating manufacturing in one region creates security and geopolitical risks.
In January 2025, U.S. agencies reported that Contec’s CMS8000 patient monitors had backdoors and hard-coded links to servers in China. These were bedside monitors, not wearables, but the case shows how security flaws added during manufacturing can pass unnoticed into hospital systems.
What IT and security teams can do
Healthcare wearables should be managed as part of the medical IoT environment. Each device that handles health data needs to follow the same security rules as other connected systems. Tracking, patching, and enforcement must include them from the start.
Security work begins with understanding what is already known. Learning how attacks occur, such as data interception or firmware tampering, helps focus defenses where they matter most. Reviewing existing controls, including encryption and anomaly detection, can reveal where protections fall short.
A risk assessment helps identify how attackers might target wireless links, firmware, or cloud services. Teams can rank risks by how likely they are and how much damage they could cause to privacy or patient safety.
Segmenting networks limits how far an attack can spread. Keep healthcare wearables and their gateways on separate networks, monitor traffic for unusual activity, and check vendors before devices go live. Weaknesses can be found early through routine reviews.
Data moving between devices, apps, and clouds should be encrypted. Use authentication and MFA for each connection. These measures reduce small gaps that often lead to bigger incidents.
