HHS funds center to share cybersecurity, threat information with health sector

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday awarded $350,000 to the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center to provide cybersecurity information and education on cyber threats to the health care sector. The cooperative agreements also will build the center’s capacity to receive cyber threat information from member health care entities, HHS said. “These agreements mark a critical first step toward addressing the growing threat cybersecurity poses to the health care and public health sector,” said Nicole Lurie, M.D., HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response. “Creating a more robust exchange about cybersecurity threats will help the industry prevent, detect and respond to these threats and better protect patients’ privacy and personally identifiable information.”