How Can Healthcare Teams Secure Connected Devices They Cannot Install Agents On?
May 29, 2026
Deep Network Observability
TL;DR
The visibility of your network is the beginning of connected device security for healthcare. When devices are unable to run agents or receive routine patches, the only option left is to use packet-level traffic data for discovery, monitoring, and threat detection.
Introduction
Connected systems makes up a large part of any modern hospital. Devices and systems in uses include infusion pumps, ventilators, imaging systems, badge readers, HVAC controllers, telehealth equipment, and many IT and facility management systems. Every device and system used in a hospital improves service delivery, but also increases the inherent risk in the system.
Many the devices used in a hospital cannot support the installation of a security agent. Furthermore, many of the hospital devices are hard to update or exist on legacy systems that were design to service a time well before the modern cyber security landscape.
The biggest challenge of the healthcare systems security team is that security is impossible without visibility. This blog is about the value of visibility in a network and connected device security and the role that Aviz Networks Deep Network Observability plays in developing the traffic security framework for IoMT, OT, and Medical Devices.
Why Is Visibility the Starting Point for Connected Device Security?
Unmonitored devices don't provide much security. Connected device protection starts with greater visibility.
Medtech, clinical, and even OT and IT devices all cohabitate in healthcare. Untold numbers of devices send data across the network without alerting anyone. Many security teams cannot determine the extent of the connected devices across their networks, how those devices communicate, and whether the devices' behavior on the network has changed. Security teams should be on the lookout for the network device communication, the network traffic patterns, and the device communication encryption status. Understanding these things helps security teams identify the areas that pose the greatest risk.
How Does Network Traffic Data Improve IoMT and OT Security?
Medtech, clinical, and even OT and IT devices all cohabitate in healthcare. Untold numbers of devices send data across the network without alerting anyone. Many security teams cannot determine the extent of the connected devices across their networks, how those devices communicate, and whether the devices' behavior on the network has changed. Security teams should be on the lookout for the network device communication, the network traffic patterns, and the device communication encryption status. Understanding these things helps security teams identify the areas that pose the greatest risk.
Healthcare teams can use network traffic monitoring in the detection of threats and undesirable communication between the many connected devices on the network.
The most effective security systems for devices leverage accurate traffic intelligence. By having visibility into packet data, healthcare teams can analyze communication across multiple departments and facilities, as well as cloud and hybrid infrastructure, and easily discover devices as they are integrated with Armis, Forescout, and Nozomi Networks. By gaining visibility into infrastructure, teams will be able to identify misconfigured security controls, such as unexpected connections, poor encryption, and suspicious traffic.
Why Do Healthcare Security Platforms Need a Strong Network Foundation?
Security platforms that integrate the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and Operational Technology (OT) require complete network visibility to minimize gaps in protection for devices and networks.
Device Discovery is the first step in Healthcare Security, however, the challenge is to have the capability of continuously monitoring and understanding the behavior of these devices. Continuous visibility of device behavior is essential for the proper evaluation of threat and operational risk posed by the devices. Aviz Networks Deep Network Observability provides the information security administrators require to increase monitoring of clinical and enterprise networks and help drive the safe operation of such networks.
Conclusion
Healthcare device security cannot be built on a foundation of assumptions. With a multitude of agentless, legacy, and difficult to patch devices within hospital networks, the first line of defense is a greater visibility. With the addition of more advanced, packet-level data traffic, healthcare teams can more accurately identify, continuously monitor, and assess the disruptive potential of devices more readily.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is network visibility the starting point for securing connected devices in hospitals?
Infusion pumps, ventilators, imaging systems, badge readers, and HVAC controllers cannot run security agents and many cannot be patched easily. They operate silently on the network and security teams often have no idea what they are doing or whether their behaviour has changed. Network-level visibility gives teams a continuous view of device traffic, communication patterns, and encryption status before silent devices become security problems.
How does packet-level traffic data improve security for IoMT and OT devices?
Packet-level data shows how devices interact across departments, facilities, cloud environments, and hybrid infrastructure. Teams can spot suspicious traffic, unexpected connections, weak encryption, and communication between devices that should not be talking to each other. That kind of traffic intelligence makes traditional security tools work better and improves device discovery when paired with platforms like Armis, Forescout, and Nozomi Networks.
Why do IoMT and OT security platforms need deep network observability as a foundation?
Healthcare security is not just about finding devices. It is about continuously understanding their behaviour after they are found. Security platforms need consistent traffic visibility across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments to monitor risk and detect threats accurately. Without that network foundation, monitoring has blind spots and risk detection is incomplete no matter how good the security platform sitting on top of it is.
What makes connected medical devices harder to secure than regular IT equipment?
Many medical devices cannot run security agents, are difficult to patch, or rely on legacy systems that were never designed with modern cyber threats in mind. Unlike a laptop or server that can receive regular software updates and run endpoint security tools, a ventilator or infusion pump has strict regulatory and operational constraints. Patching them incorrectly can break clinical functionality. That makes network-level monitoring the only realistic security layer available.
How does network traffic data help with device discovery in complex hospital environments?
Hospital networks include medical devices, clinical systems, facility OT equipment, and IT infrastructure all operating together. Many devices never announce themselves and do not show up in asset inventories. Packet-level traffic data reveals what is actually communicating on the network, which makes discovery more accurate than relying on manual tracking or incomplete asset databases that miss the devices operating silently in the background.
Why is lateral movement between connected devices a specific concern in healthcare networks?
A compromised device that can move laterally across the network can reach clinical systems, patient data, and other medical devices. In a hospital, that is not just a data breach risk. It is a patient safety risk. Network traffic data helps teams detect when a device starts communicating with something it has never talked to before, which is exactly the kind of unexpected connection that signals lateral movement in progress.
What happens to device security when encryption status is unknown or weak across hospital networks?
Devices communicating without encryption or with outdated cipher suites expose sensitive data and create entry points for attackers. Without network-level visibility, security teams cannot see which devices are using weak or no encryption. Packet-level traffic analysis surfaces that information so teams know which devices are at risk and can prioritise remediation rather than discovering the problem after a breach has already happened.
How does continuous network monitoring protect patient care when devices cannot be patched regularly?
Patching is the normal way to close vulnerabilities but it is not always an option for medical devices. Continuous network monitoring does not fix the vulnerability but it detects when something is exploiting it. Abnormal behaviour, unexpected traffic patterns, and communication to unusual destinations all show up in the traffic data. Teams catch threats in progress rather than finding out about them after patient care or hospital operations have already been affected.
Download the guide to learn how Aviz Networks Deep Network Observability improves IoMT and OT security across healthcare environments.
