Government Information Security Podcast

A recently proposed federal rule would prohibit healthcare organizations from disclosing to law enforcement patient information related to obtaining or providing an abortion. If enacted, it will address longstanding loopholes in healthcare privacy, said attorney Kathleen McGee.

Most healthcare workers don't check security protocols before trying out new generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, putting patient and other sensitive data at risk, said Sean Kennedy of software vendor Salesforce, which recently conducted research on potential security gaps in healthcare settings.

Over the years, most organizations acquire multiple tools for protecting data, but a variety of personnel and policies make it difficult to manage enterprisewide. Skyhigh Security's Nate Brady says it's time to look into the latest security service edge and secure access service edge solutions.

Healthcare sector entities' reliance on specialty and legacy equipment, including imaging systems and other gear, continues to present attractive targets for threat actors and a growing risk for medical providers, said Frank Catucci, CTO and head of research at security firm Invicti Security.

A top HIPAA-enforcement priority for regulators is cracking down on entities that disclose patient information to third parties without permission through the use of website tracking codes, says Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights.

Healthcare entities need to think more strategically about managing risk by implementing a robust cybersecurity framework such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology's CSF, said Bob Bastani, cybersecurity adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The potential use cases for generative AI technology in healthcare appear limitless, but they're weighted with an array of potential privacy, security and HIPAA regulatory issues, says privacy attorney Adam Greene of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine.

Vendors should be more transparent and faster in communicating when they experience a breach or other security incident that affect clients' data, says Anahi Santiago, CISO at ChristianaCare. "Sometimes we find out about these incidents through our third-party monitoring systems," she said.

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT will undoubtedly change the way clinicians and healthcare cybersecurity professionals work, but the use of these technologies come with security, privacy and legal concerns, says Lee Kim of the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society.

Effective security governance in a healthcare entity is a balancing act that requires sponsorship by top leadership and careful consideration of the concerns of clinicians and others in the organization, according to Eric Liederman and deputy CISO Steven Frank of Kaiser Permanente.

The FDA's new cybersecurity policy is a "watershed moment" for the industry, says Kevin Fu of Northeastern University. The agency will soon begin rejecting manufacturers' new medical device submissions that lack detailed cybersecurity measures, which will help ensure uniformity, he says.

New resources released Monday from a high-profile federal advisory group provide insights into the state of healthcare sector preparedness and best practices for dealing with evolving cyberthreats, according to Erik Decker, CISO of Intermountain Healthcare and co-chair of the task force.

Healthcare entities of all types and sizes could be the next targets of major cybersecurity attacks, said Nitin Natarajan, deputy director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Healthcare firms need to be vigilant against ransomware, DDoS and medical device breaches, he said.

The sheer volume of federal regulations in place makes it almost impossible for agencies to monitor and comply with all of them, much less understand the impact of new ones. Nick Graham of Skyhigh Security explores the many compliance challenges - and how to overcome them.

A 3-month-old federal law meant to future-proof federal computers from quantum computer decryption will have an effect on healthcare sector entities, too, says Mac McMillan, founder and CEO emeritus of privacy and security consulting firm CynergisTek.