
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 234 (Monday, December 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76022-76025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30772]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2014-N-1286]


Moving Forward: Collaborative Approaches to Medical Device 
Cybersecurity; Public Workshop; Request for Comments

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of public workshop; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the 
following public workshop entitled ``Moving Forward: Collaborative 
Approaches to Medical Device Cybersecurity.'' FDA, in collaboration 
with the National Health Information Sharing Analysis Center (NH-ISAC), 
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of 
Homeland Security, seek to bring together diverse stakeholders to 
discuss complex challenges in medical device cybersecurity that impact 
the medical device ecosystem. The purpose of this workshop is to 
highlight past collaborative efforts; increase awareness of existing 
maturity models (i.e. frameworks leveraged for benchmarking an 
organization's processes) which are used to evaluate cybersecurity 
status, standards, and tools in development; and to engage the multi-
stakeholder community in focused discussions on unresolved gaps and 
challenges that have hampered progress in advancing medical device 
cybersecurity.

DATES: The public workshop will be held January 20-21, 2016, from 9 
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Submit either electronic or written comments on the 
public workshop by February 22, 2016.

ADDRESSES: The public workshop will be held at the FDA White Oak 
Campus, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Building 31 Conference Center, the 
Great Room, (Rm. 1503), Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002. Entrance for the 
public meeting participants (non-FDA employees) is through Building 1 
where routine security check procedures will be performed. For parking 
and security information, please refer to http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WorkingatFDA/BuildingsandFacilities/WhiteOakCampusInformation/ucm241740.htm.

[[Page 76023]]

    You may submit comments as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to http://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions
    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Division of 
Dockets Management, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2014-N-1286 for ``Moving Forward: Collaborative Approaches to 
Medical Device Cybersecurity.'' Received comments will be placed in the 
docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential Submissions,'' 
publicly viewable at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Division of 
Dockets Management between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION''. The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Division of Dockets Management. If you do not 
wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, 
you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body 
of your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/dockets/default.htm.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Division of Dockets Management, 5630 Fishers 
Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Schwartz, Food and Drug 
Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, 10903 New 
Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 66, Rm. 5428, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 301-796-
6937, Suzanne.Schwartz@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Effective medical device cybersecurity to assure device safety and 
functionality has become more important with the increasing use of 
wireless, Internet- and network-connected devices, and the frequent 
electronic exchange of medical device-related health information. As 
medical devices become more connected and interoperable, the potential 
for exploit of device vulnerabilities, whether intentional or not, 
increases. Rather than impacting a single device or single system, 
multiple devices or an entire hospital network may be compromised. In 
the past, the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) sector has been the 
target of many attempts at intrusion. Protecting the HPH critical 
infrastructure from attack by strengthening cybersecurity is a high 
priority for the Federal government. Cybersecurity is the subject of 
recent Executive Orders focused on enhancing the cybersecurity of 
critical infrastructure (E.O. 13636) (Ref. 1) and increasing 
cybersecurity information sharing (E.O. 13691) (Ref. 2). Furthermore, 
Presidential Policy Directive 21 tasks the Federal government to work 
together with the private sector in order to strengthen the security 
and resilience of critical infrastructure against physical and cyber 
threats (Ref. 3). This public workshop will bring together diverse 
stakeholders from the public and private sector to discuss the current 
state of medical device cybersecurity, including its evolution over the 
past 12 months. Moreover, the workshop plans to provide a vision for 
the desired state of medical device cybersecurity through ongoing 
collaboration and new partnerships over the next 12 months. Meeting 
participants are encouraged to formulate strategies and feasible action 
plans to address gaps, such as management of vulnerabilities in legacy 
devices. These diverse stakeholders include, but are not limited to: 
Medical device manufacturers; healthcare facilities and personnel 
(e.g., healthcare providers, biomedical engineers, IT system 
administrators); professional and trade organizations including medical 
device cybersecurity consortia; patient groups; insurance providers; 
cybersecurity researchers; local, State, and Federal Governments; and 
information security firms.
    A voluntary, risk-based framework for achieving enhanced 
cybersecurity was developed by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) in collaboration with external public and private 
sector partners (Ref. 4). Since its release in February 2014, the 
``Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity'' 
(Framework) has been leveraged by entities within the HPH sector to 
better manage and reduce cybersecurity risks. This workshop aims to 
highlight some of the ways that the Framework has been employed to 
better understand, manage, communicate, and mitigate medical device 
cybersecurity risks across the medical device total product lifecycle.
    Medical device cybersecurity vulnerabilities, if exploited, may 
result in device malfunction, disruption of healthcare services 
including treatment interventions, inappropriate access to patient 
information, or compromised electronic health record data integrity.

[[Page 76024]]

Such outcomes could have a profound impact on patient care and safety. 
In the last few years, HPH sector stakeholders have been engaged in 
many collaborative activities that seek to strengthen medical device 
cybersecurity and, therefore, enhance patient safety. FDA has 
contributed to these efforts through guidance, multi-stakeholder 
engagement, outreach, and by hosting a 2014 public workshop on 
cybersecurity (Ref. 5). The 2016 public workshop announced in this 
Federal Register notice will build upon previous work by featuring some 
of the collaborative efforts that address medical device cybersecurity 
through education and training, information sharing, standards, risk 
assessment, and tools development.
    Though progress is evident, key hurdles continue to impede 
maturation of the HPH community's cybersecurity posture. This workshop 
seeks to increase awareness among stakeholders and create a common 
understanding of potential threats and vulnerabilities, as well as to 
present proactive preventative measures that may be universally 
employed as best practices and good cyber hygiene. The workshop also 
aims to facilitate extensive dialogue and articulate paths forward in 
the critical areas of information sharing, coordinated vulnerability 
disclosure and vulnerability management, and the Common Vulnerability 
Scoring System (CVSS). Information sharing continues to be a challenge 
as stakeholders work to define processes to create a trusted 
environment. Coordinated vulnerability disclosure is an important 
component of information sharing. Proactively identifying, assessing, 
and managing medical device vulnerabilities before they are exploited 
is one way to protect against potential patient harm. Vulnerabilities 
may be identified by the device manufacturer as well as by external 
entities such as healthcare facilities, cybersecurity researchers, and 
other sectors of critical infrastructure. As described in International 
Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical 
Commission 29147:2014, ``Coordinated disclosure, also known as 
responsible disclosure, is a vulnerability disclosure model in which 
all stakeholders agree to delay publishing vulnerability details for an 
agreed-upon period of time, generally after a patch to mitigate the 
vulnerability is available. The model includes steps that simplify the 
otherwise-complex, back-and-forth communications between the 
vulnerability finder and the affected manufacturer'' (Ref. 6). 
Coordinated disclosure is just one aspect of vulnerability management. 
Understanding how a vulnerability may affect device functionality, 
assessing the vulnerability impact across multiple product types, and 
identifying mitigations that may be employed until a permanent fix may 
be implemented are all critical components of vulnerability management 
that should be addressed throughout the medical device total product 
lifecycle. This workshop provides an opportunity for stakeholders to 
explore implementation of coordinated vulnerability disclosure and 
vulnerability management, including existing standards, models, best 
practices, and lessons learned in this area.
    One of the tools that manufacturers or healthcare facilities may 
use to assess and manage the impact of vulnerability is CVSS. CVSS is a 
risk assessment tool that provides an open and standardized method for 
rating information technology vulnerabilities. However, incorporating 
CVSS into medical device vulnerability assessments has proven to be a 
challenge in that it does not directly incorporate patient risk and 
public health impact factors. This workshop encourages robust dialogue 
on how CVSS might be adapted for medical devices and how considerations 
of the use environment might be incorporated in a more standardized 
manner into medical device CVSS scores.

II. Topics for Discussion at the Public Workshop

    The public workshop sessions are designed to incorporate the 
following general themes:
     Envisioning a roadmap for coordinated vulnerability 
disclosure and vulnerability management as part of the broader effort 
to create a trusted environment for information sharing.
    [cir] How might the stakeholder community create incentives to 
encourage stakeholder participation?
    [cir] What do individual stakeholders need to understand and be 
aware of regarding coordinated disclosure?
    [cir] What current tools and models presently exist that may aid 
stakeholders in implementing disclosure and vulnerability management?
    [cir] How can the security researcher community work in 
collaboration with HPH stakeholders to identify, assess, and mitigate 
vulnerabilities?
     Sharing FDA's current thinking on the implementation of 
the Framework in the medical device total product lifecycle.
     Adapting cybersecurity and/or risk assessment tools such 
as CVSS for the medical device operational environment.
     Adapting and/or implementing existing cybersecurity 
standards for medical devices.
     Understanding the challenges that manufacturers face as 
they increase collaboration with external third parties (cybersecurity 
researchers, Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAOs), 
and end users), to resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities that impact 
their devices. Note that an ISAO is a group created to gather, analyze, 
and disseminate critical infrastructure information (Ref. 7).
     Gaining situational awareness of the current activities in 
the HPH sector to enhance medical device cybersecurity.
     Identifying cybersecurity gaps and challenges that persist 
in the medical device ecosystem and begin crafting action plans to 
address them.
    Registration: Registration is free and available on a first-come, 
first-served basis. Persons interested in attending this public 
workshop must register online by January 13, 2016, at 4 p.m. Early 
registration is recommended because facilities are limited and, 
therefore, FDA may limit the number of participants from each 
organization. If time and space permits, onsite registration on the day 
of the public workshop will be provided beginning at 8 a.m.
    If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please 
contact Susan Monahan, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, 
Office of Communication and Education, 301-796-5661 or email: 
susan.monahan@fda.hhs.gov no later than January 7, 2016.
    Please provide complete contact information for each attendee, 
including name, title, affiliation, email, and telephone number. Those 
without Internet access should contact Susan Monahan to register. 
Registrants will receive confirmation after they have been accepted. 
You will be notified if you are on a waiting list.
    Streaming Webcast of the Public Workshop: This public workshop will 
also be Webcast. The Webcast link will be available on the registration 
Web page after January 13, 2016. Please visit FDA's Medical Devices 
News & Events--Workshops & Conferences calendar at http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/NewsEvents/WorkshopsConferences/default.htm. Select this 
meeting/public workshop from the posted events list. If you have never 
attended a Connect Pro event before, test your connection at https://collaboration.fda.gov/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm. To get a

[[Page 76025]]

quick overview of the Connect Pro program, visit http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview. FDA has verified the Web site addresses in this 
document, but FDA is not responsible for any subsequent changes to the 
Web site after this document publishes in the Federal Register.
    Transcripts: Please be advised that as soon as a transcript is 
available, it will be accessible at http://www.regulations.gov. It may 
be viewed at the Division of Dockets Management (see ADDRESSES). A 
transcript will also be available in either hardcopy or on CD-ROM, 
after submission of a Freedom of Information request. The Freedom of 
Information office address is available on the Agency's Web site at 
http://www.fda.gov. A link to the transcripts will also be available 
approximately 45 days after the public workshop on the Internet at 
http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/NewsEvents/WorkshopsConferences/default.htm. (Select this public workshop from the posted events list).

III. References

    The following references are on display in the Division of Dockets 
Management (see ADDRESSES) and are available for viewing by interested 
persons between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; they are also 
available electronically at http://www.regulations.gov. FDA has 
verified the Web site addresses, as of the date this document publishes 
in the Federal Register, but Web sites are subject to change over time.

1. Executive Order 13636, ``Improving Critical Infrastructure 
Cybersecurity,'' February 19, 2013 (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-19/pdf/2013-03915.pdf).
2. Executive Order 13691, ``Promoting Private Sector Cybersecurity 
Information Sharing,'' February 13, 2015 (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-02-20/pdf/2015-03714.pdf).
3. Presidential Policy Directive 21, ``Critical Infrastructure 
Security and Resilience,'' February 12, 2013 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/12/presidential-policy-directive-critical-infrastructure-security-and-resil).
4. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
``Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity,'' 
version 1, February 12, 2014 (http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework/upload/cybersecurity-framework-021214-final.pdf).
5. Food and Drug Administration, ``Public Workshop--Collaborative 
Approaches for Medical Device and Healthcare Cybersecurity, October 
21-22, 2014.'' October 11, 2015 (http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/NewsEvents/WorkshopsConferences/ucm412979.htm).
6. ``ISO/IEC 29147:2014--Information Technology--Security 
Techniques--Vulnerability Disclosure,'' (http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=45170).
7. Department of Homeland Security, ``Frequently Asked Questions 
About Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAOs),'' 
November 17, 2015 (http://www.dhs.gov/isao-faq).

    Dated: December 2, 2015.
Peter Lurie,
Associate Commissioner for Public Health Strategy and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2015-30772 Filed 12-4-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


