HCISPP · Question #267
During the risk assessment phase of the project the CISO discovered that a college within the University is collecting Protected Health Information (PHI) data via an application that was developed…
The correct answer is B. Perform a vulnerability assessment. Even though the college is HIPAA-compliant at the policy and process level, the application was developed in-house, which introduces potential software vulnerabilities regardless of regulatory awareness. HIPAA compliance addresses administrative and procedural safeguards, but…
Question
During the risk assessment phase of the project the CISO discovered that a college within the University is collecting Protected Health Information (PHI) data via an application that was developed in-house. The college collecting this data is fully aware of the regulations for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and is fully compliant. What is the best approach for the CISO?
Options
- ADocument the system as high risk
- BPerform a vulnerability assessment
- CPerform a quantitative threat assessment
- DNotate the information and move on
How the community answered
(41 responses)- A5% (2)
- B78% (32)
- C5% (2)
- D12% (5)
Explanation
Even though the college is HIPAA-compliant at the policy and process level, the application was developed in-house, which introduces potential software vulnerabilities regardless of regulatory awareness. HIPAA compliance addresses administrative and procedural safeguards, but it does not guarantee the application is free of technical vulnerabilities such as injection flaws, insecure data storage, or broken authentication. A vulnerability assessment allows the CISO to identify technical weaknesses in the application that could expose PHI. Simply documenting and moving on would be insufficient due diligence; labeling it high-risk without evidence is premature; and a quantitative threat assessment is narrower and more resource-intensive than the foundational technical review needed here.
Topics
Community Discussion
No community discussion yet for this question.