The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee led a hearing to discuss current threats and actions to strengthen cybersecurity in the healthcare sector.
The committee announced Thursday that it examined the severity of healthcare-specific computer-based attacks and exchanged ideas on possible additional efforts from Congress to safeguard patients and healthcare providers’ personal and medical data.
The meeting was presided by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the committee and co-author of the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022. He justified how the law’s requirement to report Internet-based attacks to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency can benefit industries including healthcare.
Industry and government officials also reported unique cybersecurity challenges. They shared insights on how rural and small hospitals can fund IT defense measures despite limited financial resources.
“Cyber-attacks on hospitals, and other health care providers, can cause serious disruptions to their operations, and prevent them from effectively providing critical, lifesaving care to their patients,” Peters said. “These relentless cyber-attacks show that foreign adversaries and cybercriminals will stop at nothing to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities our critical infrastructure and most essential systems.”
Electronic data in healthcare will be discussed in-depth at the 2nd Annual Healthcare IT – Digital Transformation Forum, hosted by GovCon Wire, sister website of ExecutiveGov. Become part of the virtual event on May 17 by clicking on the image below to register.
