A new national service is to be launched to help protect health and care organisations against cyber crime. CareCERT – the Care Computing Emergency Response Team – will be run by experts at the Health and Social Care Information Centre, and has initially been funded by the Cabinet Office National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP).
The organisation will monitor emerging cyber threats, alert health and care organisations, and help them guard against and respond to attacks. Longer-term work will include analysing and predicting changes in the nature of cyber threats, and providing health and care bodies with best practice and guidance. The team will begin providing services this autumn, and should be fully operational by next January.
Rob Shaw, HSCIC Director of Operations and Assurance Services, said: “CareCERT will be a valuable resource for the health and social care sector, providing best practice guidance to support organisations to keep their information safe and secure. The service will monitor for system wide threats and will then ensure that appropriate actions are developed, supporting continued security across the sector.”
Pictured: Pharmacy sign | Eva Heinsbroek
