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# Focus on Cybersecurity and IP Asset Protection: Foley
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/focus-on-cybersecurity-and-ip-asset-protection-foley/
- Published: 2017-04-05T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:16:15.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, Devices, #legacy-id-D5138378

A Foley online white paper, “Guidebook: Cybersecurity in the Pharma, Biotech, and Medical Device Industries,” is intended to help industry members focus on cybersecurity and intellectual property asset issues in an accessible and practical way. The [guidebook](http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=70004fd3-f3cf-456d-8510-fba65d00e32f&ref=fdaweb.com) says that for life science and medical device companies it is “mission critical to protect lab books, drug and clinical test data, product formulas, and production processes that underlie a company’s patents, trade secrets, and know-how from hackers and others. Given the interconnectivity of corporate data networks, it has become all too easy for cyber thieves to gain access to valuable information in a network and monetize hard-earned IP or cause a company reputational or financial harms.”

The paper lists six key steps for protecting a company’s proprietary data and IP assets: 

- identify and data map IP assets within physical and digital systems, on-site and in the cloud, and those in the hands of remote vendors and clinical researchers;
- be aware of and implement contractual, physical, and digital security systems to protect IP assets;
- become aware of cybersecurity risks and implement basic security rules of the road and effective security policy programs to protect IP assets;
- conduct constant risk assessments and evaluate and simulate how best to protect the company and its stakeholders in the event of a system and data breach;
- be aware that the Internet of Things and remote medical devices exponentially increase cybersecurity risks down to the device level; and
- be aware of the legal framework to protect the confidentiality of IP assets, as well as the liability and regulatory framework affecting cybersecurity in the life sciences and medical devices sectors.