HITRUST has announced that HITRUST cybersecurity framework (CSF) version 9 enhancements now extend an “assess once, report many” approach as a standard security framework for multiple critical infrastructure industries and includes National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity certification.
HITRUST has released specific details surrounding its version 9 of the HITRUST CSF, to be released in mid-August 2017. This release is a continuation of HITRUST’s efforts to improve the overall state of information protection by providing organizations with a comprehensive, common approach to managing information privacy and security risks including those from cyber. The HITRUST CSF—the most widely adopted controls framework in the healthcare industry—is quickly developing as a standard in other industries and is gaining broader adoption internationally, the organization said.
A driver behind this broader growth is found in HITRUST’s support for an organization’s attestation of compliance with the NIST CSF. With the release of HITRUST CSF v9, a single CSF assessment will include the controls necessary to address the NIST CsF requirements and an addendum to the HITRUST CSF Assessment report has been added to display the HITRUST CSF controls through the lens of the NIST CsF Core Subcategories.
“By incorporating the NIST Cybersecurity Framework into the HITRUST CSF and establishing a certification mechanism as part of the CSF Assurance program, organizations now have an effective and efficient approach for reporting an organization’s cybersecurity posture leveraging the NIST Cybersecurity categorization,” Jason Newman, vice president, chief information security officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, said in a statement. “This is another benefit in leveraging a common and comprehensive framework in the HITRUST CSF.”
By increasing the number of HITRUST CSF controls required for HITRUST CSF Certification from 66 to 75, organizations will now be able to leverage a single risk assessment to obtain a standardized report against a common set of security and privacy controls for an “assess once, report many” approach for multiple industries beyond healthcare such as financial services and European markets, the organization said. This includes assurances for how well an organization is meeting the objectives specified by the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Core Subcategories, or support attestations of compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule.
The HITRUST CSF v9 release also incorporates minor updates in the HITRUST CSF control requirements and associated assessment procedures based on a review of the Office of Civil Rights’ (OCR) Audit Protocol v2. This helps ensure healthcare organizations can readily demonstrate compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule in the context of the Protocol for an OCR audit or in the event of a post-breach investigation, according to the organization.
By addressing this broad collection of regulatory requirements within the single, widely-accepted framework, the HITRUST CSF reduces the resources required to define, implement, and measure risk assessment programs across each of the regulations and standards that apply to an organization’s specific needs.
