Cybersecurity and Privacy

HIMSS Director of Privacy and Security Lee Kim offers insights and advice for health systems as they try to defend against not only the coronavirus pandemic but also the opportunistic cyberattacks that are using it as cover to sow chaos.

"SweynTooth" impacts several microchip and medical device manufacturers, and could allow bad actors to wirelessly crash or access these products, according to the agency.

Prescription drug information and names were exposed, but financials and Social Security numbers were not. 

It might just be a matter of time until a phishing attempt finds its mark, meaning that the best strategy for healthcare organizations is to understand their attackers and prepare for the worst, says Healthmap Solutions CISO Kathleen Mullin.

Michael Coates, co-founder and CEO of Altitude Networks, says we have to rethink the controls, technology and tools we use and then scale into workflows to optimize for accuracy.

To minimize risk, there are certain features and offerings that third-party vendors need to have, according to Jigar Kadakia, chief information security and privacy officer at Partners HealthCare, and Ed Gaudet, CEO at Censinet.

Healthcare consumerism and cybersecurity might seem to be in tension, but it's the job of security professionals to make it work, and that starts with a culture change.

Brian Selfridge, partner at Meditology Services, says true healthcare IT security is evolving into a broader conversation that needs to be had at all levels of an organization.

Dr. Saif Abed, director of cybersecurity advisory services at AbedGraham, gives a clinician's perspective on cybersecurity – and describes how data priorities in the U.K. and Europe differ from the U.S.

Stony Brook Medicine Chief HIPAA Privacy Officer Stephanie Musso describes changes to HIPAA, new OCR enforcements of its right to access provision and more.