HITRUST often receives questions regarding our products, services and other cybersecurity issues that affect our industry. Our Ask a HITRUST Expert feature with Dr. Bryan Cline briefly addresses some of these common questions and provides helpful links and references to clarify:

Why can’t I just adopt the NIST CsF?

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CsF) provides overarching guidance for an organization’s information protection program but lacks the prescription of underlying control-based risk management frameworks such as that provided by ISO, NIST or HITRUST.  Information on how the HITRUST RMF, including the HITRUST CSF and CSF Assurance Program, provides a model implementation of the NIST CsF for the healthcare industry can be found in the Joint Healthcare and Public Health Cybersecurity Working Group’s “Healthcare Sector Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide.”  The criteria for selecting a control-based risk management framework by healthcare organizations are addressed in a joint HCSC and Children’s Health presentation entitled, “Selecting a Healthcare Information Security Risk Management Framework in a Cyber World.”

Are the CIS CSC controls integrated into the HITRUST CSF?

The CIS CSC requirements are fully integrated into the 2016 HITRUST CSF v8 release, available in late June 2016.  More information on the HITRUST CSF is available from the HITRUST CSF Webpage, and a copy of the HITRUST CSF along with supporting documentation such as an authoritative sources cross-reference is available at no cost to qualifying organizations is available for download by accepting the HITRUST CSF v8 License Agreement.  Organizations can evaluate how they’re information protection program against the CIS CSC requirements by conducting a CSF assessment and requesting a CIS CSC scorecard. 

Dr. Bryan Cline is Vice President of Standards and Analytics at HITRUST. Twitter: @IA_Doctor