Nation's Health Sector and the National Health ISAC Lead National Healthcare Cybersecurity Protection & Education

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8: National Preparedness strengthens U.S. security and resilience through systematic preparation for threats that pose the greatest risk to national security. With over 90% of the nation's critical infrastructures owned and operated by the private sector; prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery represent national preparedness core capabilities.

The health sector represents the highest breached industry with a persistent and cascading cyber attack security threat landscape. As enterprise security demands accelerate, the value of nationwide coordinated healthcare cybersecurity protection, an educated security workforce and access to the health sector's recognized Information Sharing & Analysis Center (NH-ISAC) ensure a sound, security risk mitigation strategy and contribute to a secure and resilient national healthcare critical infrastructure.

The National Health ISAC (NH-ISAC), recognized by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, Health Sector Coordinating Council, National Council of ISACs, and the health sector as the nation's healthcare and public health critical infrastructure ISAC, announces the National Healthcare Cybersecurity Protection and Education Initiative.

Nationwide workshops in HHS regions (June - September 2012), will define the National Healthcare Cybersecurity Response Framework supporting situational awareness, information sharing, incident response and education. Healthcare-sector defined and sustained collaboration includes HHS, NIST, DHS, FBI, National Council of ISACs (national critical infrastructures), security/technology organizations, and academia. NH-ISAC is looking forward to working with Verizon as the site host in Denver, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Ashburn, VA; National University in San Diego; Lockheed Martin in Baltimore; and at an academic venue in Kansas City.

In collaboration with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework is the foundational baseline to define health-specific cybersecurity functions/roles/responsibilities supported by education and healthcare-specific cybersecurity certifications. 

The NICE Initiative is comprised of over 20 federal departments and agencies including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Education, Labor, NSF, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, etc. to ensure coordination, cooperation, focus, public engagement, technology transfer and sustainability.

Dr. Ernest McDuffie, NICE National Lead: "The continued use of the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework by organizations like the NH-ISAC is extremely gratifying for all of us at NICE. Feedback for your efforts will be very valuable to the further refinement and incremental improvement of the Framework. As the cybersecurity workforce continues to evolve, it is essential that we remain current and aware of the technological changes affecting the nature and composition of this very important workforce sector. The Framework is an important guide for both employers and employees as well as academic and training institutions as we all prepare for our roles in this ever changing critical area."

Tom August, Director of Information Security, Sharp HealthCare, NH-ISAC Leadership Board of Directors: "The NH-ISAC collaborative framework will help to guide both the public and private healthcare sector towards protecting the confidentiality, reliability and availability of America's healthcare systems."

For Participation Opportunities - Contact:
NH-ISAC, Global Situational Awareness Center (GSAC)
NASA Space Life Sciences Laboratory
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
(904) 476-7858

Contact: Katherine Waldron
703-371-7910, [email protected]
www.nhisac.org

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SOURCE National Health ISAC