HHS publishes guidance for health systems to strengthen cybersecurity

Editor's Note

On June 16, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center published a guidance, titled “Strengthening Cyber Posture in the Health Sector, to help health systems and other healthcare organizations “improve their overall strength, protocols, and prevention abilities for cyberattacks,” Becker’s Health IT June 21 reports.

Becker’s highlighted the following six recommendations from HHS, according to the guidance:

• Conduct regular security posture assessments.
• Frequently monitor your networks and software for vulnerabilities.
• Identify which departments own what risk and assign management to those certain responsibilities.
• Monitor any gaps in your security controls.
• Have an incident response plan and a discovery recovery plan.
• Create security metrics.

ECRI named cybersecurity attacks as the number one health technology hazard for 2022, noting that all healthcare organizations are subject to cybersecurity attacks and should take measures to protect any vulnerabilities.