FDA has created a new position of acting director of medical device cybersecurity, naming University of Michigan professor Kevin Fu to the post. Effective January 1, this is a one-year-long position in which Fu will “work to bridge the gap between medicine and computer science and help manufacturers protect medical devices from digital security threats,” according to the University of Michigan.

Fu is an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, as well as founder of the University of Michigan’s Archimedes Center for Medical Device Security.

“Today’s medical devices rely on software and the cloud to a much greater extent than they did even a few years ago. Virtually all medical devices depend on software, which wears out much faster than mechanical components. Updating legacy medical device software is a huge challenge,” said Fu in an interview published this week by Michigan News. “The other big game changer is that today, there are many more adversaries that are mounting attacks. A decade ago, it was very theoretical. But now you have hundreds of hospitals literally shut down because of ransomware. And new security vulnerabilities are identified in medical device software almost every day. So we need to be vigilant in making sure that all of our medical devices have a basic level of security built in. Medical devices must remain safe and effective despite cybersecurity risks.”

Read the rest of the interview with Fu on the University of Michigan website.