The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST), Frisco, Texas, has launched the HITRUST Cyber Threat Analysis Service (C-TAS), described as a collaborative platform for cyber defense specific to the healthcare industry, a new component of the HITRUST Cybersecurity Incident Response and Coordination Center. HITRUST says its participants include health systems, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and government organizations such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to HITRUST, the platform will protect electronic health data and infrastructure against cyber crime and cyber espionage, and will track vulnerabilities for electronic health records and medical devices. Citing figures from the Ponemon Institute, HITRUST notes that data breaches kin healthcare jumped more than 30 percent from 2010 to 2011 and the average economic impact of a data breach was $2.2 million, including an incre3ase from 20 to 30 percent of respondents reporting criminal attacks as the root cause. HITRUST says the Cyber Threat Analysis Service will deliver:
- A comprehensive set of cyber threat intelligence specific to the healthcare industry, monitoring for healthcare specific threats and risks;
- A trusted community-based platform, providing vulnerability reporting, knowledge sharing, and collaboration without attribution to victim organizations;
- Support for best practices, including structured deliverables in the form of research, reports and briefings for multiple attribution to victim organizations.
The HITRUST Cybersecurity Incident Response and Coordination Center is coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security for participation in the Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing and Collaboration Program. In addition, it is developing processes for information sharing with the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC) to enable greater collaboration and information sharing between industry and government, according to HITRUST. HITRUST C-TAC is working with Dallas, Texas-based iSIGHT Partners, Inc., a cyber intelligence firm.
