The process of scanning and exploiting a security system that needs to be HIPAA compliant in order to find any undiscovered vulnerabilities and threats is known as HIPAA penetration testing. HIPAA penetration testing helps businesses fix any vulnerabilities that are found, enabling them to maintain compliance and avoid steep fines.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires businesses to regularly analyze risks using penetration testing or vulnerability assessments, as decided by the business.
Introduction
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a legal requirement created to protect people with health insurance and set rules for the protection of private medical device cybersecurity data.
Any business, institution, medical facility, or pharmaceutical that utilizes and maintains a substantial volume of patient health information must comply with HIPAA regulations.
The standards, procedures, things to take into account when choosing the right team, and, eventually, the healthy solution for all of your HIPAA compliance requirements will be covered in this piece.
HIPAA Penetration Testing Requirements
Every healthcare organization is required to comply with the HIPAA penetration testing regulations, which are detailed in this section.
- Risk Evaluation
The process of scanning and/or assessing a company’s security system to uncover holes that could potentially harm sensitive data kept by that company is known as risk analysis. This can comprise everything from the results of tests to individualized patient health information.
Continuous high-level security from attackers attempting to access and misuse personal healthcare information is required for HIPAA penetration testing compliance, and this requires continuing risk assessments.
The organization must choose between penetration tests and vulnerability assessments because it doesn’t specifically identify any kind of risk analysis.
Regular HIPAA penetration tests are the best solution for this because they are more thorough and in-depth when compared to vulnerability assessments. This is because it checks for vulnerabilities and exploits those that are found to gauge the potential impact of a breach based on those vulnerabilities.
The most important privacy criterion of HIPAA permits penetration testing since it helps to identify the routes that hackers could take to acquire protected health information (PHI).
- Putting Bugs in Order
HIPAA compliance requires that appropriate actions be made to address any vulnerabilities and areas of non-compliance as soon as the risk assessment, such as a healthcare penetration test or vulnerability assessment, is completed successfully.
If this isn’t done, the security system is vulnerable to numerous dangers, including data loss, theft, and unauthorized access. After the HIPAA compliance penetration testing is finished, a comprehensive report is given that details the testing’s scope, terms of engagement, and a list of vulnerabilities found with an executive summary.
Additionally, the vulnerabilities will be given access to all of their data, including actionable risk evaluations for prioritizing and remediation techniques that can help with speedy vulnerability rectification.
- Regular inspection
In order to maintain or achieve HIPAA compliance, continuous monitoring, scanning, and HIPAA compliance penetration testing are necessary to find any new vulnerabilities that pose a threat to an organization’s online security.
The instruments used for HIPAA penetration testing must be appropriately integrated with the security system in order to provide automated continuous monitoring. Also, it should make sure there aren’t any false positives that would waste labor, time, and money.
Methods for HIPAA Penetration Testing
- Reconnaissance
The pentesting teams try to compile all information about the target that is readily available to the public during the phase of the pentest known as reconnaissance. To prevent legal problems and scope creep, this is done after scoping, during which all assets must be tested and the causes and limitations are explained.
There are two types of reconnaissance: active and passive.
- Active reconnaissance is the process of learning details about a target by engaging it actively. This type of surveillance needs the target’s permission.
- The term “passive reconnaissance” refers to information collection through publicly accessible online resources, such as websites, rather than through interacting with the real target.
- Attacking
This stage involves scanning and checking the reconnaissance data for vulnerabilities, which are found using a vulnerability database of well-known CVEs, the OWASP Top 10, and the SANs 25.
The results of an automatic comprehensive vulnerability scanner can also be double-checked using a manual pentest to weed out false positives and find vulnerabilities.
- Reporting
A comprehensive report with an executive summary is produced after the penetration testing is finished. It also contains details about the test’s parameters, the terms of engagement, the techniques employed, and a list of the vulnerabilities found.
Each vulnerability is thoroughly explained, along with information on how it affects the security system, its CVSS score, and actionable risk assessments for prioritizing and fixing it. POC videos and customer service are two additional services that some companies offer.
- Resolution
Upon the conclusion of the asset and security scan for the target organization, a full report is provided, which is then used to address any vulnerabilities found. By doing so, security dangers and breaches are reduced.
- Rescanning
The pentesting method’s last stage is to confirm that the assets of a company are secure. Following the application of the fixes, the security system is once again scanned to look for any additional or newly created vulnerabilities that may have appeared as a result of the patching.
The organization’s internet security can be deemed complete when this step is ended and no vulnerabilities were found.
Factors to Take into Account While Choosing a HIPAA Pentesting Team
- Reputation
Be sure the company you select to handle your HIPAA penetration testing requirements has a solid reputation and industry expertise. This can be verified by looking at reviews and comparisons online and speaking with current or former customers to find out what they think.
- Certifications
Make sure the compliance penetration testing company you choose complies with all applicable regulations and legislation. Make sure your company’s pentesters have the relevant training and certifications to make the process of compliance and pentesting simple.
- Detailed Reporting
Make sure the findings from the pentesting provider are transparent and include simple instructions and POC videos to aid in the remediation process. They also make it possible for the development team and pentesters to work together.
- Budget
Be sure the penetration testing company you select can adjust and customize the test to meet your specific demands while still staying within your budget.