HC3 Sector Alert TLP White: Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) Vulnerability Dec. 15, 2020

Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS) are widely used by hospitals, research institutions, clinics and small healthcare practices for sharing patient data and medical images. In 2019, researchers disclosed a vulnerability in these systems that if exploited could potentially expose patient data. This is truly concerning due to the ability for Vulnerable PACS servers to easily be discovered via simple open source scanning tools. If left unpatched these systems can expose patient records to unauthorized access. There continues to be a number of unpatched PACs servers visible and HC3 is once again recommending that entities patch their systems immediately.