HHS releases guide on reporting, monitoring cyber security

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a letter regarding cyber threats faced by healthcare organizations, including reporting and monitoring practices.

The report outlines the relationships of government, private sectors and international network defense communities in the secure sharing of data.

“The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) within the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for ‘operat[ing] at the intersection of government, private sector, and international network defense communities, applying unique analytic perspectives, ensuring shared situational awareness, and orchestrating synchronized response, mitigation, and recovery efforts while protecting the Constitutional and privacy rights of Americans in both the cybersecurity and communications domains,’” stated the report.

The report examines the effect of NCCIC’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), a unique organization dedicated to reporting and monitoring cyber threats. The US-CERT is able to inform organizations about cybersecurity practices and obtain information on fighting hacking. The sharing of information is crucial to the interoperability of healthcare, repots made to the US-CERT cover all bases of cyber security and gain information on best practices to avoid these hacks.

The HHS recommends using secure email webpages as well as weekly subscriptions for up-to-date information on new risks, patches and mitigations.