For hospitals, cybersecurity can be a matter of life and death. The notorious WannaCry ransomware outbreak of 2017 hit an estimated 70,000 medical devices in the U.K. alone, while researchers recently showed it’s possible for hackers to alter MRI scans before doctors examine them.

Boston-based Censinet Inc. is looking to help hospitals mitigate the growing array of threats they face in the digital era. The startup, which is backed by $7.8 million in funding, exited stealth mode today with a cybersecurity risk management platform designed to help healthcare providers find vulnerabilities in their systems before hackers do.

Censinet is tackling a complicated task. The average hospital has about 700 suppliers, each of which can potentially introduce risks into its operations. This issue came to the fore in 2017 when a cyberattack against Nuance Communications Inc., a provider of medical transcription services, left thousands of healthcare organizations temporarily unable to process some patient files.

Censinet’s platform collects and analyzes cybersecurity data about healthcare suppliers to identify potential threats. The startup said its algorithms can assess an entire hospital network in a matter of minutes, scanning everything from the MRI machines to the software used by the finance department.

Any potential weaknesses that come up are organized by urgency and displayed in a graphical interface that lets administrators centrally assess their security posture. From there on in, the platform automatically refreshes entries when new security data becomes available. If researchers uncover a previously unknown vulnerability in a vital-signs monitor or an appointments booking application, the platform will make affected hospitals aware of the problem.

Censinet said it developed the offering in partnership with more than a dozen U.S. healthcare providers. Among them is Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which co-led the startup’s $7.8 million funding round together with venture capital firm HLM Venture Partners.

The fact that Censinet’s platform is built specifically for the healthcare sector could give it an edge over better-established risk intelligence providers such as RiskRecon Inc., which raised a $25 million round led by Accel last year. CyberGRX Inc. and Intel Capital-backed SecurityScorecard Inc. also compete in this market.

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