Agencies issue guidance on mitigating cyberthreats with limited resources 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency along with international agencies May 14 released guidance for high-risk nonprofit and other resource-constrained community organizations to assist in understanding and mitigating cyberthreats. The guide provides several recommendations for organizations to follow, which include: keeping software updated on user devices and IT infrastructure; implementing phishing-resistant multifactor authentication; account auditing and disabling those that are unused or unnecessary; selecting vendors with due diligence; implementing basic cybersecurity training; and developing and exercising incident response and recovery plans.

"Although this guide is not specific to health care, it provides an excellent overview of current cyber threats, foundational cybersecurity practices and available free resources to help implement these practices," said John Riggi, AHA's national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. "This guide, along with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Cybersecurity Performance Goals, can help resource-challenged hospitals prioritize cybersecurity practices and develop a roadmap for implementation."

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk information and resources visit www.aha.org/cybersecurity.