Elizabeth Snell

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Health IT Security, FHIR Focus of ONC Secure API Server Challenge

Elizabeth Snell | HealthIT Security | October 10, 2017

ONC is challenging healthcare stakeholders to build secure Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) servers to improve health IT security and ensure that secure FHIR options are available in the future. The Secure API Server Showdown Challenge will ideally “identify unknown security vulnerabilities in the way open source FHIR servers are implemented,” ONC Office of Standards and Technology Director Steven Posnack, MS, MHS, wrote in a blog post...

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Healthcare Cybersecurity Task Force Seeks Industry Input

Elizabeth Snell | Health IT Security | September 20, 2016

The recently appointed Healthcare Cybersecurity Task Force is hoping that a crowdsourcing approach will draw in the necessary advice and insight for how the group can best implement change to keep the healthcare industry secure against evolving threats. The Task Force was created under the Cybersecurity Information Security Act of 2015...

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Healthcare Data Breach Costs Still Highest Among Industries

Elizabeth Snell | Health IT Security | June 15, 2016

The healthcare industry is no stranger to data breaches, and as technology continues to evolve, covered entities and their business associates need to be especially vigilant when it comes to keeping patient data secure. A healthcare data breach is also much more likely to cause significant financial damage than security incidents in other sectors, according to a recent study...

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Maintaining Health Data Privacy in Precision Medicine Push

Elizabeth Snell | Health IT Security | March 31, 2017

As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and put PHI at risk, precision medicine guidelines need to be updated to account for new health data privacy threats, according to a recent opinion piece published in the Oxford University Press. The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System Senior Counsel Jennifer Kulynych, JD, PhD explained that data re-identification methods are not foolproof, and it can be difficult to determine exactly how individuals’ genomes are being used...

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Medical Devices Reportedly Infected in Ransomware Attack

Elizabeth Snell | Health IT Security | May 16, 2017

The recent WannaCry ransomware attack that infiltrated more than 150 countries and forced some European healthcare organizations to suspend certain services reportedly infected certain medical devices as well. HITRUST explained in an email update that its investigations found that MedRad (Bayer), Siemens, and other unnamed medical devices were infected. Furthermore, Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) “were identified within the HITRUST Enhanced IOC program well in advance of last Friday’s attacks,” the organization stated...

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