CISA and FBI release guidance on secure by design software; guidance advises consumers, including health care organizations, to demand cybersecurity specifications from developers for better security

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI Aug. 8 released guidance on secure by design software products which includes resources to assess product security maturity and whether a manufacturer follows secure by design principles.   
  
"As more and more data breaches and life-threatening ransomware attacks are occurring due to hackers exploiting third-party software design vulnerabilities, the solution can no longer be that the purchasers of the flawed software must ‘patch faster,’" said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. "We agree with the federal government that consumers, including health care organizations, have the ability to drive market forces which produce better securely designed software. At the procurement phase, health care organizations should require that software developers meet the cybersecurity specifications outlined in this guide. Software developers should understand that ‘safety sells,’ not speed to market. Software developers must also take primary responsibility for software security, not the end users — secure by design, and at our insistence — secure by demand."  
  
For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.