Securing Biomedical Devices in Healthcare with IGEL Managed Hypervisor

The Growing Challenge of Legacy Windows in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations face an escalating cybersecurity risk as biomedical teams continue running critical medical devices on older versions of Windows. These legacy systems, often essential for imaging machines, meds dispensing, and diagnostic tools, remain unpatched and vulnerable due to vendor restrictions, operational dependencies, or the excessive costs associated with replacing medical hardware. Not only does this create a security issue, but it also creates an operational issue in finding hardware for these critical controllers to run on as new hardware – think TPM2 chips – does not support the outdated version of Windows. 

According to a Help Net Security report, 70 percent of medical devices in hospitals run outdated operating systems, making them prime targets for cyberattacks. Meanwhile, research from Claroty’s Team82 found that 63 percent of known vulnerabilities tracked by CISA exist within healthcare networks, due to aging infrastructure and the inability to update Windows-based systems. 

The need for a secure, efficient, and cost-effective way to continue operating these devices, using new endpoint hardware, without exposing hospitals to cybersecurity threats is more urgent than ever. This is where IGEL Managed Hypervisor comes in. 

How IGEL Managed Hypervisor Strengthens Security for Biomedical Devices

Isolating Vulnerable Windows Instances

IGEL Managed Hypervisor allows biomedical teams to run legacy Windows-based applications securely within a controlled virtualized environment. Instead of running outdated Windows versions directly on endpoint hardware, the IGEL OS acts as a separation layer between the hardware and the Windows instance running inside a managed hypervisor. This approach eliminates persistent malware risk by ensuring a fresh Windows session at every reboot, and provides a read-only, tamper-proof operating environment. 

Extending Medical Device Lifecycles with IGEL Managed Hypervisor

Many medical devices rely on outdated versions of Windows, which are incompatible with modern hardware. This forces healthcare organizations to source and maintain aging systems—an expensive and unsustainable approach. IGEL Managed Hypervisor solves this by decoupling software from hardware, enabling legacy Windows-based medical applications to run securely on modern devices. This eliminates the need for outdated equipment, reduces maintenance costs, and enhances security, allowing hospitals to extend the lifecycle of critical medical devices without compromise. 

Meeting Compliance and Zero Trust Security Requirements

Regulatory bodies like HIPAA, FDA, and NIST emphasize cybersecurity in medical technology, yet legacy Windows systems often lack built-in Zero Trust protections. IGEL Managed Hypervisor, built on the Preventative Security Model, provides a secure-by-design endpoint foundation that integrates with leading Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) solutions. It adds an additional firewalling layer to prevent malicious activity and works alongside network segmentation tools to contain threats. By enabling IT to create an immutable, rollback-ready Windows environment, IGEL ensures medical systems can be restarted in a known-good state—much like a non-persistent VDI desktop—supporting the uptime and availability critical for patient care. 

Seamless Integration with Existing IT Infrastructure

Healthcare IT teams are stretched thin, managing both modern and legacy environments. IGEL Managed Hypervisor is managed from the IGEL UMS simplifying endpoint management by allowing centralized policy enforcement across all devices, enabling remote updates and patches without disrupting workflows, and supporting Browsers, SaaS, DaaS and VDI integrations 

Why IGEL is the Right Fit for Healthcare Biomedical Teams

Hospitals need a pragmatic security approach that works within existing constraints. IGEL Managed Hypervisor offers a security-first design that minimizes attack surfaces by isolating legacy Windows environments, removes the issue of maintaining old hardware, reduces hardware refresh cycles and extends device lifespans, and works across distributed healthcare environments with zero-trust-ready architecture. 

In a time where cyber threats to medical infrastructure are escalating, IGEL provides a proven, scalable, and secure way to modernize healthcare IT without disruption. 

Want to Learn More?

If your biomedical team is managing legacy Windows devices, IGEL Managed Hypervisor can help secure your infrastructure without sacrificing operational efficiency. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your healthcare organization stay protected. 

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