Clark Howard: Hackers, cyber security need to work together

ATLANTA — Technology is advancing at a much faster pace than our ability to secure it.
 
Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard says companies and security researcher, more commonly known as hackers, need to work together to keep people safe.
 
"The hackers are the ones finding flaws, finding cracks in the system before the criminals can find them and the hackers do the good thing, they alert the public the manufacturers they tell people about them so that those flaws can be fixed." explained Beau Woods.
 
Beau Woods, a security researcher and cyber security advocate, is part of a group called "I Am the Calvary."
 
They work to bridge the gap between emerging technology and public safety.
 
The recent Chrysler Fiat and Hospira medical pump hacks are perfect examples of hacker finding flaws in technology.
 
In both cases researchers were able to remotely break into the operating systems.
 
For Chrysler, it meant that hackers were able to remotely take control of a moving vehicle.
 
In the case of the Hospira medical pump, there was a fear that hackers may have been able to gain control of the dosage of medication given to a patient.

According to the company, there are no known instances of cybersecurity breaches of Hospira devices in a clinical setting.

The company also provided at a statement about the hack, saying in part: Supporting safe and effective delivery of medication is Hospira's priority. In the interest of patient safety, Hospira has been actively working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding reported vulnerabilities in our infusion pumps. The company has communicated with customers on how to address the vulnerabilities following recent advisories from the FDA and DHS. There are no known instances of cybersecurity breaches of Hospira devices in a clinical setting."
 
Beau says there is no system that will never fail.
 
"Every system has flaws, the earlier in the process you can find those flaws the less risk and the less cost there is to mitigate or to repair the flaw."
 
Beau believes it's important for manufacturers, engineers and hackers to work together during the beginning of a products life cycle.
 
"To get to safer sooner together, we all want the same things let's just get there together in a way that works without being unintentionally disruptive," he said.

WSBTV