Why should I scan my systems?
How often should I scan?
What is the difference between internal scanning vs external scanning?
These are common security questions that should be addressed when dealing with HIPAA Compliance regulations.
HIPAA regulations require that procedures exist for the safekeeping of data, such as data encryption. The HIPAA Security Rule states that a Risk Analysis is required for systems that contain electronically protected health information (ePHI).
A Risk Analysis involves conducting an accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (also known as the CIA triad) of the resident information.
Network scanning tools are available to perform security scans throughout your environment for the identification of possible and/or known security holes that might allow hackers to obtain information.
There are different methods by which these scans can be conducted in order to validate either the internal network or the external network.
For the purposes of achieving the goal of securing the external network, penetration testing (also known as pen testing) is the preferred method by which to keep intruders from entering the perimeter. This type of testing is used to validate the security posture of the network periphery before gaining access to the inside.
If unwanted guests have already passed the external infrastructure and made their way inside, then a vulnerability assessment is the next method for preventing system access. This type of testing is used to identify and then remediate any issues that may exist on the local systems or network devices used for internal purposes.
Securing the entire network infrastructure in a HIPAA Compliant hosting environment is a significant task that requires a great deal of attention to comply with the proper rules and regulations.
The desired result of such a risk analysis, however, would produce a low-risk assessment that could greatly reduce the impact of data loss in the case of a security breach.
