HHS says stronger HIPAA enforcement on the way with privacy and security audits

Representatives from the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) said last week that OCR plans to begin conducting HIPAA compliance audits for security and privacy later this year, implementing a proactive audit program required under the…

NSF cybersecurity research focuses on 3 “game-changing” themes

In a notice published this week in the Federal Register, the National Science Foundation’s National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) announced three new federal cybersecurity research themes that represent a…

Change in European Commission, UK government likely to bring action on privacy

While there appears to no shortage of consideration in the current administration or Congress for addressing privacy practices in some contexts in the United States, efforts to strengthen personal privacy protections seem to be gaining momentum…

Federal CISOs appear to trust technology more than Congress

The results of the recently released (ISC)2 sponsored report, The 2010 State of Cybersecurity from the Federal CISO’s Perspective, suggest a pervasive distrust of U.S. legislators by federal Chief Information Security Officers, based in large part…

HHS publishes new guidance on conducting risk analysis

Under the administrative safeguard provisions of the HIPAA Security Rule, covered entities are required to perform a risk analysis, specifically to “conduct an accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality,…

House appetite growing for cybersecurity, FISMA reform

No sooner did the Federal Information Security Amendment (FISA) Act (H.R. 4900) clear the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement, another cybersecurity bill was introduced and referred to the…

State laws complicate navigation of health data disclosure rules

As noted this week in a blog posting from Hunton & Williams, a ruling issued in February from a federal district court in Ohio highlights some of the legal complexities in navigating both state and federal…