Medefer Security Flaw & Why No Evidence of a Breach Isn’t Good Enough

If you missed it, here’s the gist: Medefer, a private healthcare provider handling NHS patient referrals, was found to have an API flaw—specifically, a "broken object-level authorisation" issue—that could have left patient data wide open to unauthorised access. A contractor discovered the issue in November, flagged it, and a fix was rolled out within 48 hours.

Medefer insists there’s no evidence that any data was accessed. They say they’ve been transparent, reported the issue to regulators, and that independent cybersecurity experts have confirmed their systems are secure.

Digital Health Article | BBC Article | MSN Article

Great. But here’s the problem.

Fixing Security Flaws is Good. Preventing Them is Imperative.

The phrase “no evidence of a breach” is a PR classic, but it’s not the flex people think it is. If your front door has been wide open and no one noticed, would you confidently say no one came in? Or would you start checking every room?

In cyber terms, vulnerabilities like this don’t just maybe get exploited. They are actively hunted down by automated tools designed to seek out weak points and extract valuable data. If no authentication was required (as the whistleblower claims), that means anyone with the right tools could have scripted automated calls to pull patient records at scale.

The bigger issue? This should have been impossible in the first place.

The Healthcare Sector’s Persistent Security Challenge

Medefer isn’t the only company playing catch-up with security. The healthcare industry has a long track record of reacting to problems instead of preventing them. But the stakes are too high for a patch-it-when-we-find-it approach. Medical data is one of the most valuable assets on the black market, and cybercriminals are only getting smarter.

The priority must be:

• Locking down endpoints before vulnerabilities become an issue
• Eliminating attack surfaces instead of monitoring them
• Ensuring security is built-in—not bolted on after the fact

A Proactive Approach: Prevention, Not Patching

This is exactly why IGEL OS exists. Instead of hoping nothing goes wrong, it’s designed so nothing can go wrong:

• A read-only OS – No unauthorised changes, no malware, no surprises.
• No local data storage – So even if a device is compromised, the data isn’t.
• Cryptographic chain of trust – Verifies every step of the boot process.

Because “We fixed it” shouldn’t be the goal. “It was never a risk” should be.

And Medefer? Given the "broken object-level authorization" vulnerability, IGEL OS, with its inherent security features, would likely have prevented this issue entirely. If you’d like to ensure this never happens again—give us a call. We’d love to help.

Check out IGEL on our website or drop us a message/call to discuss what we could do for you and your organisation: https://r-comconsulting.com/partners/igel/

This article is based on publicly available news reports, including those linked within. The opinions expressed are my own and for informational purposes only. Cybersecurity is complex, and no system is entirely secure. Consult with security professionals for tailored advice. Product discussions are for informational purposes and not a substitute for your own due diligence.

#CyberSecurity #NHSCyber #IGEL #ZeroTrust #HealthTech #DataProtection