Healthcare cyber center advises use of HIPAA security controls to prevent ransomware attacks

The Department of Health and Human Services' cyber-threat sharing center is recommending the healthcare industry use longstanding privacy and security requirements for protecting medical records against emerging cyber threats, such as ransomware attacks.

Specifically, the group is citing the security rule issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to address evolving cybersecurity threats. The recommendations from HHS' Healthcare Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center are based in part on the recent ransomware attack on Atlanta, which took out municipal...