On tracker attacks in health grids

Abstract

The utilisation of grid computing to support healthcare research is becoming increasingly widespread, as is the use of IT to support healthcare delivery. Furthermore, it seems that the two areas are on an inevitable convergence path as clinical communities in several countries start to investigate how real data stored in electronic patient records can be utilised to facilitate research. The use of IT within healthcare gives rise to unique social and ethical challenges; the area of grid computing has given rise to significant novel security challenges; and the anticipated convergence of these two fields will inevitably give a new lease of life to established challenges. In this paper we consider the phenomenon of tracker attacks in this emerging context, and outline a potential approach to addressing the problem.