In honor of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, HHS has awarded a total of $350,000 in cooperative agreements to assist healthcare and public sector partners in responding to cybersecurity threats.
HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology awarded a cooperative agreement to Ormond Beach, Fla.-based National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center to provide information and education on cyber threats to healthcare sector stakeholders.
HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response also awarded a cooperative agreement to NH-ISAC in an effort to build the infrastructure necessary to provide healthcare partners with cyber threat information.
"These agreements mark a critical first step toward addressing the growing threat cybersecurity poses to the healthcare and public health sector," said Nicole Lurie, MD, HHS' assistant secretary for preparedness and response, in a statement. "Creating a more robust exchange about cybersecurity threats will help the industry prevent, detect and respond to these threats and better protect patients' privacy and personally identifiable information."