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Managing the Risk Assessment

Starting a Hospital Security Risk Assessment

Posted on September 28, 2011 7:26 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

How to make sure your Security Department is Working for the Hospital.

Security Risk Assessment are not just Required by the Joint Commission – they are required in many states as a preventive measure to help prevent and reduce workplace violence.

The Risk Assessment also helps managers and administrators assess their security program, directly measure it’s effectiveness and helps determine
cost effective methods that can give you a great deal of protection for the lowest possible cost — something we call “bang for the buck”. 

The recent increase in violence comes as a surprise to doctors, nurses, managers and administrators, too.  Violence is not a concept that people usually associate with hospitals.  For years, hospitals have been seen as almost a sanctuary of care for the sick and wounded in our society.   However, the perception of hospitals has been changing over the last fifteen years due to a variety of factors.

 1.  Doctors are no longer thought of as “Gods”.  This means they are
      are more easily blamed when a patient’s condition deteriorates.

 2.  Hospitals are now regarded as businesses.  This perception has been
       been aggravated by television in shows like a recent “60 Minutes”, as well as
       by the effects of the recession on jobs and the loss of health insurance.

3.  Lack of respect and resources (funding) for hospital security departments
   .  Rather than being seen as a crucial protection for the hospital staff and
      patients, many security departments are chronically underfunded and used
      for a variety of non- security functions, such as making bank deposits for
      the hospital gift shop, driving the education van, etc.

The federal government  issued a guidance document for dealing with violence issues in healthcare,  called OSHA 3148.01R, 2004, Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers.  You can download a copy at www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf



Using Risk Assessments as a Business Process

Posted on June 21, 2011 1:43 am by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Risk assessments are increasing in utility and popularity – being used for everything from compliance to safety assessments, and used by financial institutions, healthcare organizations, manufacturers, government of the world and think tanks. 

Many regulators require formal risk assessments on everything from gauging political risk in an unstable country, to protecting consumer financial information, to assessing workplace violence potential.  

Here’s a definition of a risk assessment:   A process to determine what controls are necessary to protect sensitive or critical assets both adequately and cost-effectively. Cost effectiveness and Return On Investment (ROI) are required elements of a risk assessment.  

A risk assessment is not a democratic process where the most popular answer wins.  It is not consensus driven.  Instead, it is a business process that manages a security function.   Security is very process centered.  Because security often consists of many different elements which are critically important, such as managing network access,   it makes sense to manage it as a process.

According to the statistics, risk assessments are way up in popularity in 2011.  Maybe
it’s economics – maybe it’s result of the previous economic downturn, but the requirements for risk assessments have never been broader, and there have never been more of them than there are now.  Here’s a partial list:  

The Joint Commission
HIPAA, HITECH, NIST 800-66
FFIEC, BSA-AML,
ISO 27001 and 27000 series; NIST 800-53
Red Flags Identity Theft
NCUA Part 748
FEMA 426, FEMA 428

The exercise of doing a risk assessment affords a level of protection which is related to how many other people actually contribute to the risk assessment results.   Using an online compliance survey as a participatory measure takes the onus of absolute responsibility away from the manager/analyst and distributes it throughout the organization where it belongs.

Obviously people are a critical component of information security.  In a risk assessment, people are also important to include because they are able to report what’s going on in their workplace every day.  How can one analyst know enough to do the entire risk assessment by themselves?  They would have to be everywhere at once – in the morning, late at night, on the weekends, and also be able to channel the work of everyone from the newest tech support person to the director of the data center.   And the inclusion of a variety of individuals adds weight and power to the risk assessment.

The true value of the risk assessment is in the cost benefit analysis, which details what controls need to be implemented, how much they cost and how much they would protect the organization by either prevent threats from occurring or by mitigating the impact of the incident if it occurs. 

While the analysts may be accountable for the reporting or analysis of potential risk, the responsibility for any action that needs to be taken is up at the C level, or with the Board of Directors.  In fact, in the FFIEC IT (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Information Technology ) Handbook, they spell out, “The Board is responsible for holding senior management accountable”.  Often we have found that the actual President of a bank or credit union doesn’t always KNOW that he is going to be held responsible – this information is down another level in the organization.

I recommend getting management to sign off on the basic assumptions,  in writing,  in the course of completing the risk assessment – and of course, on the final reports. Areas where senior management can review and approve include: 

  • Calculation of asset values, including the value of the organization in total
  • The potential costs of implementing different controls, singly or in combination.
  • Validating which controls are currently in place and how well they are working.
  • The conclusions from the draft report, and the final report.

The analyst is just the messenger, doing the work of assembling the risk elements and calculating their potential results.  But senior management makes the final decisions on each element.   There’s nothing like a signature on a piece of paper to foster a climate of accountability. 

Risk Assessments have the potential to save corporations and governments millions of dollars by making decision-making based on real analytics, instead of just guesses – plus they are an essential element of compliance.  These are good reasons to evaluate whether it’s time for you to do a Risk Assessment!



TSA – Why pat-downs are ridiculous and after 9 years – they still can’t spell R*I*S*K management. Follow the money.

Posted on November 23, 2010 1:29 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Every fifteen minutes, the media is full of images of children being patted down at the airports. The media is stirring up the porridge on this story.  But think for a moment – TSA is spending 90% of it’s budget, resources and energy on passengers who are not and will never be a threat.  And that leaves only 10% to spend on legitimate and potentially dangerous travelers.  This raises several questions.

First – why?  When the DHS espouses it’s emphasis on RISK MANAGEMENT – it’s clear that they don’t follow it.  The private company that runs the screening programs makes substantially more money by screening everyone, if they only had to screen real suspects – their income (which is over $8 Billion per year) could be cut in half!

By applying the risk management principles that are in their charter – they would be able to spare the poor traveling public and spend more time and more resources on checking and double-checking the potential terrorists. 

Most rational people can watch an airport scanner line for two hours and realize it is an enormous waste of resources for very little results and testers can routinely smuggle in knives, lighters and whatever else they want.

The inability of TSA to adopt a rational approach to airport screening – and remember – they still don’t’ screen the cargo riding on the same plane – is just lining pockets including the lobbyists who have been pushing the extra-expensive full body scanners.

The justification for this big expenditure is that is avoids the dreaded “profiling”.  We should be profiling – we should be checking people who like to visit Yemen for Easter.  We should be doing intense screening of young men between the ages of 18 and 30 who have recently traveled in or out of Pakistan.

 Here’s a partial list of who we shouldn’t waste time and resources screening:

 Children under 10
Active and Retired Military
Civilian Federal Employees
Civilian Federal Partners
Members of a ‘Preferred Traveler Program’
Individuals who opt for an intensive background check
Senior Citizens over 70

But you know what they say – Money Talks… and it’s talking to me this Thanksgiving week.



The Risk Assessment – Live – and Cross-Cultural

Posted on October 25, 2010 8:00 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

I just got back from a great trip to the Middle East.  I spoke at a State Department conference (ISAC) Conference in Doha, Qatar and then did a full risk assessment of a large hospital in Abu Dhabi.   Besides that I loved the food, and loved the people, and came home with lots of beautiful earrings and bangles and perfume.

The great insight I got on this trip was that security problems are exactly the same everywhere… they are not based on sex, race, nationality, gender, religion, hair color, height,  politics, or anything else.   Maybe this is why the TV show “The Office” is a worldwide hit.   Organizations work the same way all over the world.  As a person who got her degree in cultural anthropology of all things — I am amazed less at the differences than I am in the similarities between organizations.

This is my 17th country that I have visited to do a security risk assessment and they all come down to these basic steps: 

1.  Identify what you want to assess.   Many times you need to cut down the proposed assessment, it doesn’t need to include things that are 10 miles away.

 2.  Write up a Project Plan to show other people what you’re doing to do – and give management a time line to work with.  (It keeps me focused – a value add).

3.  Find the dollar VALUE for whatever you are assessing, for example — How much is the facility worth?   What’s the value of one patient record – two dollars or two thousand dollars?

4.  Come up with a realistic threat profile that includes the local crime rate, some historical data for crime, cyber crime, natural disasters, fire, etc.

 5.   Ask other people in the organization how they handle security.   I like using our automated surveys because it captures more immediate data from individuals.  You can use a translator if you don’t speak the language and I guarantee you’ll be amazed at the results.  The more people you interview – the more amazing the results will be.

6.   Examine all the existing controls and see how they are being used in other areas of the organization,  are they 100% implemented?   80%?   50?  Even less?

7.  Analyze the results with good math.  This is commonly done by software, but you can also use a regression analysis model with a database program like Access –   don’t guess.    Let the numbers do the talking.

8.   Write up a simple report, illustrated with lots of color graphs and photos, so someone  can just page through the report and understand what the assessment revealed.

The best risk assessment report in the world is a waste unless it comes up with actionable results — the list of what the organization needs to do NEXT.  Some people call them After Action Reports, maybe they are called Corrective Action Reports, maybe they are called a Task List.  The name doesn’t matter, but the results matter.

The report should cover the basics of what you did, what areas you reviewed, who you talked to (or got answers from with a survey), and what you recommend should be done, based exactly on the risk assessment.  In banking and financial companies, the regulators already get the last risk assessment and ask the organization to show “where in the risk assessment did it say you should add a stronger firewall?  add a better camera system to the Emergency Department?  do background checks when you hire new people?

These are just examples,  any improved control could be used – but you will need to show the regulator exactly WHERE in the risk assessment it said you should do this or that.     In the follow up Blog – I’ll talk about how to present your findings to your management.



All about the HIPAA Risk Analysis — from the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

Posted on May 16, 2010 8:24 pm by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

An amazing development in HIPAA compliance took place on May 7th.  What a great surprise for a Risk Analysis/Risk Assessment Person!  The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights finally came out with their draft guideline for the HIPAA Risk Analysis on May 7th!

While hospitals and health plans, business associates, technical service providers and physicians have struggled to understand the original HIPAA risk analysis requirement, the Health & Human Services Department finally published the draft guidance to help healthcare providers understand what is expected of them in doing a risk analysis of their protected patient health information (ePHI).

This is a critical part of the HIPAA Security Rule, but there was never any ‘official’ guidance of exactly what was expected and how they should accomplish the risk analysis. 

Why the Office of Civil Rights?  Because the new HITECH Act (February 2010) directed that OCR oversee health information privacy including the enforcement of the HIPAA requirement.   And the guidance is long overdue.  I have had dozens of conversations with individuals at hospital and, discussing what a risk analysis is, what are the basic elements, and I am THRILLED to report that the OCR agrees with my methodology.

 The draft guideline on risk analysis also takes the same track that the financial institutions have given as guidance to banks and credit unions.  That is risk analysis is a foundational document that should be used (and referenced) as the organization evaluates and implements appropriate controls.

OCR refers to the risk analysis, not as a one-time drill, but instead, as an ongoing process to help organizations evaluate their risk focusing on the confidentiality, integrity and availability of protected health information.  The Risk Analysis Report, creates the blueprint that an organization will follow as they improve their compliance – for example, deciding what data should be authenticated in particular situations, deciding, when, if or how to use data.

A risk analysis is also the basis for an understanding by organizations of the technologies they will need to secure protected health information, OCR said in the draft guidance May 7. 

To quote directly:  “We begin the series with the risk analysis requirement in § 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A).  Conducting a risk analysis is the first step in identifying and implementing safeguards that comply with and carry out the standards and implementation specifications in the Security Rule.

Therefore, a risk analysis is foundational, and must be understood in detail before OCR can issue meaningful guidance that specifically addresses safeguards and technologies that will best protect electronic health information.”

Among the basic elements of a risk analysis, OCR said, organizations must identify data collections, document threats to information that could create a potential for inappropriate disclosure and assess current security measures the organization uses to protect patient information. This was great to read because it follows the elements I have built our solutions around.

Those elements, which were reinforced by the draft guideline include the following five elements of risk analysis (and risk assessment).

1.     Identify and characterize the assets that need protection,  including the databases, the applications, etc.

2.    Analyzing the relevant threat data – focusing on what could adversely affect the assets (ePHI) in this case.

3.    Modeling the potential losses that could result from the threat actually materializing.

4.    Finding the existing vulnerabilities in the current security situation that would increase the odds of the loss actually occurring.

5.   Developing appropriate controls to reduce potential loss, reduce existing vulnerabilities and make sure the controls are cost effective.

 The OCR also referenced the NIST 800-66 to show sample questions that need to be part of the risk analysis.  Luckily – we totally agree with them and have included the NIST 800-66 Guidance in every HIPAA Risk Analysis software solution.

 Here’s another short excerpt from the OCR:

 “Risk Analysis Requirements under the Security Rule

 The Security Management Process standard in the Security Rule requires organizations to “[i]mplement policies and procedures to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security violations.” (45 C.F.R. § 164.308(a)(1).)  

Risk analysis is one of four required implementation specifications that provide instructions to implement the Security Management Process standard.  Section 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A) states:

RISK ANALYSIS (Required).

Conduct an accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information held by the [organization].

OCR went on to cite NIST 800-66:  “The following questions adapted from NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-66  are examples  organizations could consider as part of a risk analysis. These sample questions are not prescriptive and merely identify issues an organization may wish to consider in implementing the Security Rule:    Have you identified the e-PHI within your organization? This includes e-PHI that you create, receive, maintain or transmit.    What are the external sources of e-PHI?

The publication of this first draft guideline gives healthcare organizations and other affected organizations a hint about which direction the OCR enforcement is going to go.  As I mentioned previously, the regulators are likely to follow the example of financial audits and ask for the current copy of the organization’s risk analysis and use that as the blueprint to measure how well the organization used the risk analysis to prescribe and dictate all other actions which were taken to protection the organization’s protected health information.

In the words of the OCR –

“In Summary, Risk analysis is the first step in an organization’s Security Rule compliance efforts. Risk analysis is an ongoing process that should provide the organization with a detailed understanding of the risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of e-PHI.

For a complete copy of the 8 page OCR guideline, please send an email to chamilton@riskwatch.com.

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Fear of Risk Assessment!

Posted on June 17, 2008 2:45 am by Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton Comment

Why are people INTIMIDATED by risk assessments?  Is it because they seem overwhelming with their arrays of lists and categories? (At last count – I categorized over 1.572 million combinations of the 44 asset categories, 58 threat categories, 55 vulnerability categories, 7 loss categories and 160 control categories)!

Part of the trepidation of manager tasked with a risk assessment seems to be that they are anxious about making key assumptions and assigning importance to different areas of the business or agency.  Of course, part of this is political – the risk analyst has the power to build up the importance of one part of an organization and reduce the stature of another – or EVEN AFFECT THEIR BUDGETS!! 

In practice however, it seems like the exercise of doing a risk assessment affords a level of protection which is related to how many other people actually contribute to the risk assessment results.   Using the compliance survey as a participatory measure takes the onus of absolute responsibility away from the manager and distributes it throughout the organization where it belongs.

Besides – how can one person know enough to do the entire risk assessment by their self?  They would have to be everywhere at once – in the morning, late at night, on the weekends, and also be able to channel the work of everyone from the newest tech support person to the director of the data center.   And the inclusion of a variety of individuals adds weight and power to the risk assessment.

While the analysts may be accountable for the report of potential risk, the responsibility for any action that needs to be taken is up at the C level, or with the Board.  In fact, in the FFIEC IT Handbook, they spell out, “The Board is responsible for holding senior management accountable”.  Often we have found that the actual President of a bank or credit union doesn’t always KNOW that he is going to be held responsible – this information is down another level in the organization.

The analyst should not be afraid of making assumptions in the risk assessment; auditors make assumptions all the time.  One could say that the world runs on assumptions.   So making an assumption about how long it would take to replace the personnel or web applications of a specific part of the organization is not too difficult.   Always remember that each component of the risk assessment can be vetted before with relevant management so that senior management does take the responsibility for validating the choices the analyst makes.

Personally, I advocate getting management to sign off, in writing, on the assumptions they accept, in the course of completing the risk assessment – and of course, on the final reports. There’s nothing like a signature on  piece of paper to foster a climate of accountability.

 Caroline R. Hamilton is the Founder of RiskWatch, Inc., the original top-rated risk assessment software.  Hamilton served on the NIST Model-Builder’s Workshop on Risk Management from 1988-1995 and on the National Security Agency’s Network Rating Workshop.  In addition, she was a member of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defensive Information Warfare Risk Management Model and has worked on a variety of risk assessment and risk management groups, including the ASIS Information Technology Security Council and the IBM Data Governance Council, created by Steven Adler.  Hamilton also received the Maritime Security Council’s Distinguished Service Award and has written for a variety of books and magazines including the CSI Alert, the Computer Security Journal, the ISSA Newsletter, The HIPAA Compliance Handbook, Defense News, Security & Design, Cargo Security and many other publications.  Based in Annapolis, Maryland, Hamilton is a graduate of the University of California.




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