Information Sharing , Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development , Threat Intelligence

Healthcare organizations have strengthened cyberthreat intelligence sharing over the last decade, but their security programs still lag behind evolving risks, said Jeffrey M. Vinson Sr., former cybersecurity leader at Harris Health System.

See Also: Know Thy Enemy: Threats to Cyber Resilience

During Vinson's tenure as senior vice president and chief cyber and information security officer at Harris Health System, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the Texas healthcare organization a one-year, $150,000 grant to help identify ways to share cyberthreat information (see: Threat Intel Sharing Project: CISO Leads the Way).

Today, industry groups such as the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center do an effective job distributing timely intelligence, but overall advancements in sector cybersecurity remain uneven, said Vinson, founder of consulting firm JMV Information Security.

That's in part because many healthcare leaders still treat cybersecurity as a technical function rather than a business priority tied to patient safety, he said. Smaller and rural providers face even deeper challenges because of limited budgets, staffing shortages and restricted access to advanced tools and intelligence-sharing networks.

"These organizations unfortunately don't invest a lot in cyber, and if they do, it's going to be taken away at some point" to meet other resource pressures, he said.

In this video interview with ISMG, Vinson also discussed:

• The growth in cyberthreat sharing through ISACs and other collaborations;
• Resource and talent gaps affecting rural healthcare cybersecurity;
• The potential impact of powerful artificial intelligence tools such as Anthropic's Claude Mythos on the healthcare sector.

Vinson is a retired military officer and a former technical director at National Security Agency. He has more than 30 years of information security experience, including serving on the FBI counterintelligence taskforce and creating security operations teams and GRC teams for financial services and healthcare organizations. He previously served as the chief cyber and information security officer of Harris Health.