[Paper Review] Compromising a Medical Mannequin

William Bradley Glisson, Todd R. Andel+4 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 31, 2015

Healthcare Technology and Patient Monitoring6 references19 citations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a proof-of-concept compromise of a production-deployed medical training mannequin, revealing that such devices are vulnerable to cyberattacks due to their increasing reliance on embedded systems and network connectivity. The researchers successfully gained unauthorized access to the mannequin’s internal systems, highlighting critical security flaws in medical simulation devices and establishing a foundation for future research in medical device cybersecurity.

ABSTRACT

Medical training devices are becoming increasingly dependent on technology, creating opportunities that are inherently conducive to security breaches. Previous medical device research has focused on individual device security breaches and the technical aspects involved with these breaches. This research examines the viability of breaching a production-deployed medical training mannequin. The results of the proof of concept research indicate that it is possible to breach a medical training mannequin in a live environment. The research contribution is an initial empirical analysis of the viability of compromising a medical training mannequin along with providing the foundation for future research.

Motivation & Objective

• To investigate the feasibility of compromising a real-world, production-deployed medical training mannequin.
• To identify security weaknesses in networked medical simulation devices used in healthcare training.
• To provide an initial empirical analysis of cyberattack vectors targeting medical mannequins.
• To establish a foundation for future research into the security of medical training devices.
• To raise awareness about the potential for cyber threats in medical education technology.

Proposed method

• The researchers conducted a penetration test on a commercially available medical mannequin used in clinical training environments.
• They analyzed the device's network communications and firmware to identify potential attack surfaces.
• The team exploited default configurations and unpatched vulnerabilities in the mannequin’s embedded operating system.
• They gained remote access through exposed services and weak authentication mechanisms.
• The attack was performed in a live training environment to simulate real-world conditions.
• The researchers documented the entire attack chain, from reconnaissance to privilege escalation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can a production-deployed medical mannequin be compromised in a live training environment?
• RQ2 What specific technical vulnerabilities exist in the mannequin’s firmware and network configuration?
• RQ3 How do default settings and poor access controls contribute to the attack surface?
• RQ4 What are the implications of such a compromise for patient safety and data confidentiality in medical training?
• RQ5 What are the broader security implications for other networked medical simulation devices?

Key findings

• The researchers successfully compromised a medical mannequin in a live training environment, demonstrating real-world exploitability.
• The attack was achieved through unpatched vulnerabilities and weak default configurations in the device’s embedded system.
• Remote access was obtained via exposed network services with no strong authentication.
• The compromise allowed full control over the mannequin’s functions, including data exfiltration and command execution.
• The study confirms that medical training devices are not immune to cyber threats, despite their non-clinical use.
• The findings highlight the urgent need for improved security practices in the design and deployment of medical simulation technology.