ONC announces cyber attacks info sharing initiative

Nicole Lurie, 
M.D., M.S.P.H.
Assistant Secretary
for Preparedness
and Response (ASPR)

PARCA eNews – July 25, 2016 – To enable better dissemination of threat information, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) released two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to build the capacity of an Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO). 

This organization is being asked to:

• Issue warnings about potential cyber threats;
• Provide outreach and education that improves cyber security awareness;
• Equip Healthcare and Public Health sector stakeholders to take rapid actions in response to cyber threat information shared by the ISAO, and
• Facilitate cyber threat information sharing widely within the HPH sector, regardless of the size of the organization.

In short, the ISAO will create a more robust cyber information-sharing environment, especially for smaller entities that may not have the resources to access such information on their own, by leveraging existing relationships. 

The hope is that through the resulting streamlined cyber threat information sharing process, HHS will be able to send cyber threat information to a single entity, which will be able to share that information widely to support stakeholders.

Source: HealthITBuzz.gov blog