Rural hospitals in South Carolina get free cybersecurity upgrades

Rural hospitals in South Carolina are getting free help against cyberattacks. The White House Office of the National Cyber Director announced Project Lifeline 250 on Monday. It is a six-month pilot that will supply free hardware upgrades and security services, donated by major technology companies.

What changed

Several IT and security companies agreed to provide hardware and services to the hospitals at no cost. They include Cisco, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, ServiceNow and Abnormal AI. Help is meant to cover three areas:

• Finding and replacing vulnerable older systems that criminals can easily attack
• AI-powered detection and response, meaning tools that spot an attack and react to it
• Backup drives so a hospital can keep critical services running after an attack

Why it is needed

Small and rural providers often lack the money and staff to improve their security. That concern drove much of the criticism of a proposed update to the HIPAA Security Rule, the federal rule on protecting patient data, because of its cost for smaller providers.

Congress may also help. The Senate unanimously passed a bill for grants to underserved hospitals. It now sits with the House. Even if it becomes law, Congress would still need to approve funding, so grants could be many months away.

What officials said

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster spoke at the launch at Newberry Health. He said the project connects American industry with rural hospitals to defend their networks, place physical backup devices after an incident so care can continue, and replace high-risk legacy devices.

What is not known yet

The announcement was light on detail. It is unclear when the pilot will begin. It is also unclear how a nationwide rollout would be paid for. The plan is to test the idea in one state first. Project Watershed 250, announced in Texas in late August to help water companies, follows the same approach.