The US Division of Well being and Human Companies’ (HHS) Workplace for Civil Rights (OCR) has proposed new cybersecurity necessities for healthcare organizations with an goal to safeguard sufferers’ knowledge in opposition to potential cyber assaults.
The proposal, which seeks to change the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, is a part of a broader initiative to bolster the cybersecurity of vital infrastructure, the OCR mentioned.
The rule is designed to strengthen protections for digital protected well being data (ePHI) by updating the HIPAA Safety Rule’s requirements to “higher handle ever-increasing cybersecurity threats to the healthcare sector.”
To that finish, the proposal, amongst different issues, requires organizations to conduct a overview of the expertise asset stock and community map, establish potential vulnerabilities that would pose a risk to digital data techniques, and set up procedures to revive the lack of sure related digital data techniques and knowledge inside 72 hours.
Different notable clauses embrace finishing up a compliance audit not less than as soon as each 12 months, mandating encryption of ePHI at relaxation and in transit, implementing using multi-factor authentication, deploying anti-malware safety and eradicating extraneous software program from related digital data techniques.
The Discover of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) additionally necessitates that healthcare entities implement community segmentation, arrange technical controls for backup and restoration, in addition to carry out vulnerability scanning not less than each six months and penetration testing not less than as soon as each 12 months.
The event comes because the healthcare sector continues to be a profitable goal with ransomware assaults, not solely posing monetary threat but additionally placing lives at stake by disrupting entry to diagnostic gear and significant techniques that include affected person medical information.
“Healthcare organizations accumulate and retailer extraordinarily delicate knowledge, which doubtless contributes to risk actors concentrating on them in ransomware assaults,” Microsoft famous in October 2024. “Nonetheless, a extra vital purpose these amenities are in danger is the potential for big monetary payouts.”
“Healthcare amenities positioned close to hospitals which can be impacted by ransomware are additionally affected as a result of they expertise a surge of sufferers needing care and are unable to assist them in an pressing method.”
In response to knowledge compiled by cybersecurity firm Sophos, 67% of healthcare organizations had been hit by ransomware in 2024, up from 34% in 2021. The foundation trigger behind a majority of those incidents have been traced again to exploited vulnerabilities, compromised credentials, and malicious emails.
Moreover, 53% of healthcare organizations that had knowledge encrypted paid the ransom to revive entry. The median ransom fee was at $1.5 million.
The rise within the charge of ransomware assaults in opposition to the healthcare entities has additionally been complemented by longer restoration instances, with solely 22% of victims totally recovering from an assault in per week or much less, a big drop from 54% in 2022.
“The extremely delicate nature of healthcare data and wish for accessibility will all the time place a bullseye on the healthcare trade from cybercriminals,” Sophos CTO John Shier mentioned. “Sadly, cybercriminals have realized that few healthcare organizations are ready to reply to these assaults, demonstrated by more and more longer restoration instances.”
Final month, the World Well being Group (WHO), a United Nations company targeted on international public well being, characterised the ransomware assaults on hospitals and healthcare techniques as “problems with life and demise” and known as for worldwide cooperation to fight the cyber risk.
