HITRUST Prepares For Cyber Attacks
HHS discusses partnership with HITRUST to prepare practices for potential cyber attacks
Many professionals worry how secure their EMR system is, as well as how at risk they are of attacks on their system. SC Magazine addresses that, writing, "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' CISO shared how a new threat alert system for the healthcare industry will enhance the cyber readiness of the public and private sectors."
This new threat alert system is part of a partnership with DSS and the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST). It was announced that “they will conduct monthly cyber threat briefings to help organizations understand risks impacting the industry. In addition, an alert system established by HITRUST, called “C3Alert” will also be available to notify organizations of threats."
As explained by Health IT Security, "The cyber security briefings will be held online beginning in April 2014 and each session will last 60 – 75 minutes, with the material presented being made available to those registered." The entire purpose of these cyber security briefings is to help providers stay up to date about cyber threats that are currently a problem to the healthcare industry and to devise a plan on how to defend themselves from the potential attacks.
The official report by HITRUST explains the plan in further detail. Kevin Charest, Chief Information Security Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, "Collaboration is crucial to reducing cyber threats for the entire healthcare industry, including the government. These briefings and alerts allow us to better disseminate valuable and critical information to healthcare organizations more effectively so they can better prepare and respond to cyber threats and events."
"Having access to alerts, threat intelligence and lessons learned that are relevant to our organization is important, as it helps ensure that we will maximize our efforts in addressing cyber threats. Information protection is a priority for our organization, but we need to be as efficient as possible in doing so," explains Aaron Miri, CTO of the Children's Medical Center of Dallas.