NIST Proposes PACS Cybersecurity Guidance for Health Providers

The NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence released both proposed guidance to help healthcare delivery organizations secure the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) ecosystem and a project to develop an example solution to build stronger security controls. Released Monday, the draft guidance, Securing Picture Archiving and Communication System, contains elements to help health organizations create an approach, architecture, and security characteristics for the PACS ecosystem, as well as how-to guidance. Imaging technologies have undergone significant changes during the last decade and are now easily uploaded into a digital format to be stored or shared. These systems are commonly located in image-intensive areas like the radiology department and often connect to the EHR.