On the Secure Internet of Medical Things

The Internet and Telecom of Medical Things

In the August 2020 Edition of Communications of the ACM (the Association for Computing Machinery), Chief Internet Evangelist at Google and 2012 AD to 2014 AD ACM president, Vinton G. Cerf, wrote On the Internet of Medical Things, a column regarding healthcare and the widespread availability of household Internet and Telecom technologies applicable to healthcare. Related to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Cerf wrote that he experienced an unsettling doctor’s call because Cerf’s goal, a doctor analyzing his health, was rejected, but the offered alternative, a video consultation, was inadequate. Cerf wrote, “This led to the natural conclusion that remote detection would be helpful in these conditions” (Cerf, Aug 2020, p. 5). Cerf was saying this: he wanted a solution to the COVID-19 virus, but he had not planned an immediate solution to this contagion passing from one entity to another, so he ought to discuss solutions to this problem.

Against ‘90s Technology Standards, More Recent Diagnostic Technologies

On the topic of remote detection, Vinton G. Cerf wrote that numerous organizations are already creating IT (Information Technology) solutions that can count its owner’s steps walked, rate of pulse, heart rhythm, and blood oxidation levels; and motion rate; and temperature; and blood-glucose levels; and weight; etc. However, Cerf said, “Until now, these have made local recordings for later analysis” (Cerf, Aug 2020, p. 5). Cerf was saying that the variety of technologies available for monitoring human health is indeed robust, but because it is not real-time online monitoring, the aforementioned technologies’ efficacy is a simple concept: like a PlayStation One Memory Card, save now then upload later, but this is the year 2020, and the PlayStation One was originally 1990’s technology.

The Security of Communication

In Scripture, there is a record of Jesus of Nazareth, called by many, the Christ. Of Jesus of Nazareth (NIV), this is written, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt 10:34). Jesus of Nazareth is stating that he is a security personnel against an end to contention. In an age of Internet connectivity, I believe this is the second most vital aspect of security that Cerf should have recognized: communication (John 1:1). With no communication, healthcare facility entrances might as well have a big insurmountable wall in front them: dysfunctioning security adds to instability, but functioning security adds to stability. Cerf not mentioning security communication is strange because, at least in the United States, security organizations such as state police agencies have received United States military technologies, security personnel could easily populate Cerf’s doctor’s office with technologies such as CDC-compliant anti-coronavirus P100 face masks, and aid in guiding ongoing medical treatments within the medical facility. For reference to Information Security, I suggest reading Michael Whitman’s and Herbert Mattord’s Principles of Information Security, 5th Edition: as an undergraduate student, this was my ISYS 331 required textbook. On the subject of patient privacy rights, these ought to be protected because HIPPA exist to enable security entities to select the correct goals in a information systems security program or project rather than limit communication to non-essential conversations. For example, collecting doctor’s office visitor information is non-invasive, and can determine pre-existing condition eligibility willingly given in order for a patient to receive health treatment without getting far into the facility and causing a ruckus with the coronavirus a major current problem, internationally.

On Secure Communications, my Reflection

As a reflection: after high school, I became a more involved online multiplayer gamer: communication is the key to going by the way to blessings or curses (Matthew 15:11). In team based games, I learned this communication is vital to leading a team by an edge through a path onto another team’s base of operations. Whenever I dedicate time to games, I usually earn a high rank or challenge entities who are already high ranked. Cerf called the most invasive, and feasible, health technologies that are linkable to watches or mobile phones the general Internet of Medical Things, but the ideal current applicable terminology ought to be the Secure Internet of Medical Things, and its lifecycle development ought to display the acronym SIMT as the SSDLC (Secure Software Development Lifecycle) is the evolution of the SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) does. As the related article, On the Internet of Medical Things, is on the Communications of the ACM magazine, this is a vital issue that I believe shall benefit Software Engineers’ time limitations: regardless of worst-case notation, asymptotically selected data structures and algorithms for the fastest miniaturized central processing units, Software Engineers ought to prepare for an added, but wanted, process being communicating with security entities for mission critical activities to avoid increasing overhead beyond worth and feasibility. 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay