2025-08-05 –, Copa
Hospitals and trauma centers have been increasingly targeted by sophisticated cyber threats that jeopardize patient safety, disrupt critical care, and compromise sensitive health data. In 2025, the healthcare sector remains one of the most attacked industries, with ransomware, phishing, and supply chain disruptions posing daily risks to clinical operations. These threats are especially acute in trauma centers, where even brief system outages can result in life-threatening delays.
This panel will explore the evolving cybersecurity landscape facing healthcare providers, with a focus on high-impact vulnerabilities such as legacy medical devices, unsegmented networks, and third-party software dependencies. Panelists will discuss recent incidents and their cascading effects on emergency care delivery, as well as the broader implications for public health and national security.
The discussion will also highlight emerging policy challenges, including the impact of new federal funding and regulatory frameworks. In addition, the panel will explore operational mitigations such as zero-trust architectures, incident response planning, and workforce training.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the systemic risks facing healthcare infrastructure and leave with actionable insights into how policy, technology, and cross-sector collaboration can strengthen resilience in the face of growing cyber threats.
Hospitals and trauma centers are increasingly targeted by sophisticated cyber threats that jeopardize patient safety, disrupt critical care, and compromise sensitive health data. In 2025, the healthcare sector remains one of the most attacked industries, with ransomware, phishing, and supply chain disruptions posing daily risks to clinical operations. These threats are especially acute in trauma centers, where even brief system outages can result in life-threatening delays.
This panel will explore the evolving cybersecurity landscape facing healthcare providers, with a focus on high-impact vulnerabilities such as legacy medical devices, unsegmented networks, and third-party software dependencies. Panelists will discuss recent incidents and their cascading effects on emergency care delivery, as well as the broader implications for public health and national security.
The discussion will also highlight emerging policy challenges, including the impact of new federal funding and regulatory frameworks. In addition, the panel will explore operational mitigations such as zero-trust architectures, incident response planning, and workforce training.
Dr. Dameff will provide an informational briefing on an ARPA H project that he is working on.
In this session, Beau Woods shares his unexpected journey into the world of medical device security—a path that began with curiosity and evolved into a mission to protect lives. As a prominent voice in the "Hackers for Health" movement, Woods will recount how he first encountered vulnerabilities in life-critical systems and the profound ethical questions that followed. Unlike traditional cybersecurity domains, hacking medical equipment involves systems that are directly connected to human bodies—pacemakers, infusion pumps, ventilators, and more—where even minor disruptions can have life-or-death consequences.
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the systemic risks facing healthcare infrastructure and leave with actionable insights into how policy, technology, and cross-sector collaboration can strengthen resilience in the face of growing cyber threats.
Dr. Christian (quaddi) Dameff is an ER doc. He is also an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Biomedical Informatics, and Computer Science at the University of California San Diego. He co-directs the UCSD Center for Healthcare Cybersecurity. He is also a hacker, a former open capture the flag champion, and DEF CON/RSA/Black Hat/BSIDES Speaker.
Beau Woods is a leader with the I Am The Cavalry grassroots initiative, Founder/CEO of Stratigos Security, a Cyber Safety Innovation Fellow with the Atlantic Council, leads the public policy space at DEF CON, and helps run the I Am The Cavalry track at BSides Las Vegas. In addition, Beau helped found the ICS Village, Aerospace Village, Hack the Sea, and Biohacking Village: Device Lab. His work bridges the gap between the security research and public policy communities, to ensure connected technology that can impact life and safety is worthy of our trust. He formerly served as Senior Advisor with US CISA, Entrepreneur in Residence with the US FDA, and Managing Principal Consultant at Dell SecureWorks. Over the past several years, Beau has consulted with the energy, healthcare, automotive, aviation, rail, and IoT industries, as well as cyber security researchers, US and international policy makers, and the White House. Beau is a published author, public speaker, media contributor.