HHS Says to Strengthen Cyber Posture at Healthcare Organizations

A recent threat briefing from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stressed the importance of building and maintaining good cybersecurity posture within healthcare organizations. The briefing focuses on cybersecurity posture, including steps organizations can take to strengthen their cyber posture, benefits to strengthening cyber posture, and cyber posture best practices. The briefing states that “Cybersecurity posture refers to the overall strength of an organization’s cybersecurity, protocols for predicting and preventing cyber threats, and the ability to act as well as respond during and after an attack.” The briefing suggests several steps for healthcare organizations to strengthen their cyber posture. Additionally, the briefing adds that it recommends all organizations follow the best practices outlined in CISA Insights to protect against cyber threats including reducing the likelihood of a potentially damaging cyber intrusion, taking steps to swiftly detect a potential intrusion, ensuring organizations are prepared to respond in the case of an intrusion, and maximizing organizations’ resilience to cyber incidents. The briefing says that “According to the NIST Special Publication 800-39, a security risk assessment is the process of identifying risks to organizational operations, organizational assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation, resulting from the operation of an information system.