cybersecurity

HHS and American Hospital Association Alert Providers to Act Now on “Citrix Bleed” Vulnerability

Kathie McDonald-McClure Cyber Security and Cyber Crime, Data Privacy & Security, Health Information Technology , , , , , , , ,

The United States Health & Human Services Department (HHS) Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HH3) issued an HH3 Sector Alert for a software vulnerability dubbed the “Citrix Bleed“. The HH3 Alert advises on a Citrix security advisory regarding a zero-day vulnerability that impacts the NetScaler ADC (formerly Citrix ADC) and NetScaler Gateway (fomerly Citrix Gateway). The HH3 Alert, issued on November 30, 2023, urges healthcare organizations to upgrade their devices to prevent damage to the health sector from cyber attacks, including ransomware.

Per the HH3 Alert, even if the patch that Citrix released for this vulnerability was implemented, Citrix warns that compromised sessions will still be active after the patch is implemented. Organizations should follow the Citrix guidance to upgrade devices and remove any active or persistent sessions with the commands listed in the Alert.

On December 1, 2023, the American Hospital Association (AHA) similarly alerted its members about the Citrix Bleed issuing its own alert titled, “Urgent: Hospital Action Needed to Protect Against ‘Citrix Bleed’ Threat.” AHA also published the following article the same day: “HHS-HC3 calls for immediate hospital action to protect against ‘Citrix Bleed’ vulnerability and ransomware threat.”

In its weekly Medicare MLN Connects news on December 7, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asks providers to make sure their IT department reads the information and takes necessary action. Providers also should share the HH3 Alert with their network clearinghouse and vendors.

Relatedly, on December 6, 2023, CNN reported that HHS shared exclusively with CNN a plan focused on getting more money and training to small and rural health care providers who lack dedicated cybersecurity staff. CNN reported that Biden administration officials “have long been concerned that software providers continue to sell insecure products that hackers are too easily able to exploit.” Click here to read the full CNN article, titled “US health officials call for surge in funding and support for hospitals in wake of cyberattacks that diverted ambulances,” by Sean Lyngass.

Looking for assistance with your organization’s data security policies? We work with clients and their IT team in the preparation and updating of information security policies and procedures to comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, FTC Safeguards Rule, and more.  Such policies are essential in today’s cyber threats environment to meet the expectations of regulatory enforcement agencies such as the HHS Office for Civil Right and FTC. Information security policies also aide organizations in meeting other legal requirements and expections, e.g., contractual, cyber insurance underwriting, consumer, and other third-parties. If you are looking for assistance in this area, and to learn more about Wyatt’s data privacy and cyber security practice, visit the Wyatt Data Privacy & Cyber Security webpage.

If you need additional information, contact: Kathie McDonald-McClure, kmcclure@wyattfirm.com, at 502.562.7526

Senators Propose U.S. Cybersecurity Incident Notification Law

Kathie McDonald-McClure Cyber Security and Cyber Crime , , , ,

This post was originally published on July 21, 2021. See important “Update” below.

UPDATE: On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which includes the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“The CIRCI Act”). The CIRCI Act, which appears as Division Y in H.R. 2471, has several elements proposed by the initial Senate Bill that was the subject of this article with some variations. CISA has 24 months to issue implementing regulations.

——————————————————

In light of the escalation in ransomware and other cyber threats, a bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators has released a cybersecurity notification bill titled “Cyber Incident Notification Act of 2021.” Under the proposed bill, a “covered entity” would be required to report a “cybersecurity intrusion” or “potential cybersecurity intrusion” to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within 24 hours of confirmation of the intrusion.  Covered entities also would be required to submit updated cybersecurity threat information to CISA within 72 hours after the discovery of new information. The requirement for updates would continue until the incident is mitigated or any follow-up investigation is completed.

Although the term “cybersecurity intrusion” would be defined in future rulemaking with public comment, the bill provides, at a minimum, that the term include ransomware if it falls into one of six broad categories. The categories include ransomware involving a nation-state, an advanced persistent threat cyber actor, or a transnational organized crime group. The categories also include ransomware that results in or has the potential to result in harm to national security interests, the U.S. economy, or to public confidence, civil liberties, or public health and safety. In essence, it would encompass most types of ransomware.

The term “covered entity” also is to be defined by future rulemaking but, per the bill, “shall include, at a minimum, Federal contractors, owners or operators of critical infrastructure, as determined appropriate by the Director based on assessment of risks posed by compromise of critical infrastructure operation, and nongovernmental entities that provide cybersecurity incident response services.” CISA’s list of critical infrastructure sectors include: Information Technology, Communications, Healthcare and Public Health, Emergency Services, Financial, Energy, Food and Agriculture, Commercial Facilities, Critical Manufacturing, among others. For a full list of CISA’s current “critical infrastructure” sectors and a detailed description of each, click here. 

To incentivize compliance, the law would allow the CISA Director to assess a civil penalty up to 0.5 percent of the entity’s gross revenue from the prior year for each day it violates the requirements under the law or under rules promulgated under the law. The Director would be allowed to “take into account mitigating or aggravating factors, including the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violations and, with respect to the covered entity, the covered entity’s ability to pay, degree of culpability, and history of prior violations.”

Click here to read the full Senate Bill.

FDA Issues Cybersecurity Guidance to Medical Device Manufacturers

Margaret Young Levi Health Information Technology, Privacy & Security , ,

Data transmissionThe U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued guidance setting forth its current thinking on issues related to cybersecurity of medical devices.

Because medical devices increasingly store or transmit sensitive patient health information, there are increased security risks of unauthorized access, modification, misuse or denial of use, or the unauthorized use of this information. Medical devices that connect to other devices or to the Internet or which have USB or other data ports are especially vulnerable. The FDA notes that “[f]ailure to maintain cybersecurity can result in compromised device functionality, loss of data (medical or personal) availability or integrity, or exposure of other connected devices or networks to security threats. This in turn may have the potential to result in patient illness, injury, or death.” Continue reading →