Although many healthcare organizations are becoming more mindful of the security risks posed by vendors, they're not consistently vetting these companies or adequately mitigating risks, says Andrew Hicks of the consultancy Frazier & Deeter, who offers strategic insights.

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report analyzes the indictments of four Chinese military officers in connection with the 2017 Equifax data breach. Also featured: Advice on implementing NIST's new privacy framework; lessons learned in a breach disclosure.

Although NIST's new privacy framework is agnostic toward any particular privacy law, "it gives organizations building blocks to help them meet any obligations under any particular law or jurisdiction" says Naomi Lefkovitz, a NIST senior privacy adviser.

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report offers an analysis of the missteps that led to problems with the app used in this week's Democratic presidential caucuses in Iowa. Also featured: growing privacy concerns about facial recognition and business continuity tips for dealing with the coronavirus.

The coronavirus statistics are dizzying - as of Thursday, there were more than 28,000 infections and about 560 deaths. But the key stat to watch is the mortality rate, currently 2 percent, says pandemic expert Regina Phelps. How that number changes will dictate how business continuity leaders must respond.

As health data privacy concerns heat up to a boiling point on multiple fronts, it's more essential than ever that patients get a clear opportunity to make a choice about whether their data is shared, says privacy advocate Twila Brase, who heads the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom.

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report discusses the ramifications of the U.K's decision to allow limited use of Huawei's equipment in 5G networks. Plus: Updates on Wawa's stolen card data offered for sale and nascent security threats from social networks and drones.

Dave DeWalt, former CEO of FireEye and McAfee, has been appointed vice chair of the board of Onapsis, a vendor focused on securing business-critical applications. In this exclusive interview, DeWalt opens up on application vulnerabilities, the evolution of the nation-state threat and technologies to watch in 2020.

The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report offers an analysis of fresh details on the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' iPhone. Also featured: an update on Microsoft's exposure of customer service records; a hacker's take on key areas of cyber hygiene.

In light of rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, the Association of Executives in Healthcare Information Security recently issued new data security guidance to help the healthcare sector prepare for potential nation-state attacks, says CISO Christopher Frenz, one of the document's authors.