FDA says cybersecurity vulnerabilities found in some Medtronic devices

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday said cybersecurity vulnerabilities were identified in Medtronic Plc's implantable cardiac devices, clinic programmers, and home monitors.

But, the FDA recommended the usage of the devices and said the medical device maker was developing updates to further mitigate those vulnerabilities. The health regulator added it was not aware of any reports of patients being harmed.

Last year, Medtronic disabled internet updates for some 34,000 CareLink programming devices that healthcare providers around the world use to access implanted pacemakers, saying the system was vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Medical device makers have bolstered efforts to mitigate product security vulnerabilities in recent years following a flurry of warnings from security researchers who have identified bugs in devices like the Medtronic implant programmers.

Shares of the company were down 1 percent in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)