Health-ISAC Hacking Healthcare 2-16-2023

This week, Hacking Healthcare explores a new report highlighting the need for cybersecurity regulation harmonization. We highlight the difficulties various stakeholders are encountering with the current lack of alignment as well as the challenges in getting the relevant government entities to cooperate. Next, we assess a new joint government advisory highlighting North Korean cyber threats against the healthcare sector. We breakdown what the advisory says, and then assess the seemingly lackluster response.

As a reminder, this is the public version of the Hacking Healthcare blog. For additional in-depth analysis and opinion, become a member of H-ISAC and receive the TLP Amber version of this blog (available in the Member Portal.)

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Welcome back to Hacking Healthcare.

Biden Administration Committee Highlights Need for Cybersecurity Regulation Harmonization 

With cyber threats continually growing in scale and sophistication, governments and their regulatory agencies are increasingly looking to impose new and updated cybersecurity regulations on organizations within their jurisdiction. According to one Biden administration committee, this national and international trend is having a detrimental effect on cybersecurity and they have some recommendations.

The President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) may not be well known to everyone, but it has existed since 1982, and its broad mission includes providing advice to the U.S. government on meeting critical national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) challenges. This mission has historically included strong focus on various cybersecurity issues.[i]  Its membership is made up of industry representatives, and currently includes numerous executives from a variety of software and telecommunications businesses.

The Problem 

The NSTAC’s recent draft report was published earlier this month, and one of its key findings highlights the negative aspects of proliferating cybersecurity requirements. The report states that the proliferation of these cybersecurity regulations and requirements are “diverting resources away from improving security to proving compliance with overlapping, redundant and/or inconsistent requirements.”[ii]

To help illustrate the point, the report notes that in the past year, 11 countries advanced new or updated critical infrastructure cybersecurity risk requirements and 9 of those also advanced some form of cyber incident reporting.[iii] The NSTAC laments that “these programs often end up diverging across sectors or countries resulting in additional cost without adding security benefit.”[iv]

A Possible Solution

The report includes a few recommendations to create policies and processes that will encourage regulatory harmonization within the United States:

• – The president should direct agencies wishing to “[issue] a regulatory rulemaking that creates or modifies cybersecurity requirements,” and to align those requirements to consensus standards as much as possible. This would include documenting how each requirement aligns to consensus standards or CISA-developed regulatory resources.
• – Various government agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) should create processes to assess proposed regulatory rulemakings for cybersecurity standards alignment, assess what opportunities exist to increase harmonization, and coordinate to resolve conflicts.

Action & Analysis
**Included with H-ISAC Membership**

As usual, Health-ISAC members are advised to keep an eye on threat bulletins and warnings being distributed by Health-ISAC through the HTIP platform.  Health-ISAC will continue to share updated information about DPRK threats to the healthcare sector as it becomes available. These reports can often come ahead of formal government CSAs and often include HPH sector specific information.

Congress

Tuesday, February 14th:

– No relevant hearings

Wednesday, January 15th:

– No relevant hearings

Thursday, January 16th:

– No relevant hearings

International Hearings/Meetings

– No relevant meetings

EU 

– No Relevant Meetings

[i] https://www.cisa.gov/blog/2023/01/26/jcdc-focused-persistent-collaboration-and-staying-ahead-cyber-risk-2023

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