Clinical trial software is vulnerable to breaches and ransomware attacks, as clinical trials become more decentralised and incorporate the use of wearable medical devices that can be tampered with, destroying vital data related to a trial. The sponsors are vulnerable to losing millions of dollars of investment in a clinical trial of a drug in an event of any loss in intellectual property or trial data in a software breach.

A cybersecurity plan for conducting clinical trials may offer data backup, secure authentication, secured data transfer, data encryption, access controls, regular security updates, and more.

Discover the leading clinical trial cybersecurity companies

Clinical Trials Arena has listed some of the leading companies offering products and services related to cybersecurity using its intel, insights and decades-long experience in the sector.

The information provided in the download document is drafted for clinical trial executives and technology leaders involved in cloud innovations.

The download contains detailed information on suppliers and their product offerings, as well as contact details to aid purchase or hiring decisions.

Amongst the leading suppliers of cybersecurity in clinical trials are Atos, Fortinet, Hashed Health, BridgeHead Solutions, CyberMaxx, Protenus, ClearDATA, Sensato, Upguard, and CynergisTek.

Important components for securing clinical trials

Incident response plan

A robust plan to remediate quickly in case of an incident ensures minimal harm to an organisation. Cybersecurity assists organisations to respond to data breaches and security violations.

Security awareness training

Proper training for individuals in research organisations for protecting sensitive data and creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) covering the way an employee should use the software and protect data allow more secure clinical trials.

Data protection

Authorising individuals to access private data through features such as secure authentication, and access control are important components of securing clinical trials.

Impact of remote clinical trials on cybersecurity

The surge in remote patient monitoring in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has improved the uptake of emerging industry trends such as electronic health records, telemedicine, and decentralised clinical trials. The expansion of these trends will be further sustained by the need to improve healthcare access in rural areas, the rising geriatric population and chronic diseases, and increasing technological advancements.

The leading companies in the clinical research field are working continuously to address issues related to cybersecurity in remote or decentralised trials as more researchers are embracing remote monitoring post-pandemic. Clinical trial developers, sponsors, and contract research organisations are focussing on patient privacy and security all through the trial process. The approach not only helps organisations from warding off cybercrimes but can also improve patient experiences and build trial participant trust.