1.1 General
This International Standard defines guidelines to support the interpretation and implementation in health
informatics of ISO/IEC 27002 and is a companion to that standard2).
This International Standard specifies a set of detailed controls for managing health information security and
provides health information security best practice guidelines. By implementing this International Standard.
healthcare organizations and other custodians of health information will be able to ensure a minimum requisite
level of security that is appropriate to their organization's circumstances and that will maintain the
confidentiality, integrity and availability of personal health information.
This International Standard applies to health information in all its aspects, whatever form the information takes
(words and numbers, sound recordings, drawings, video and medical images), whatever means are used to
store it (printing or writing on paper or electronic storage) and whatever means are used to transmit it (by hand,
via fax, over computer networks or by post), as the information must always be appropriately protected.
This International Standard and ISO/IEC 27002 taken together define what is required in terms of information
security in healthcare; they do not define how these requirements are to be met. That is to say, to the fullest
extent possible, this International Standard is technology-neutral. Neutrality with respect to implementing
technologies is an important feature. Security technology is still undergoing rapid development and the pace
of that change is now measured in months rather than years. By contrast, while subject to periodic review,
standards are expected on the whole to remain valid for years. Just as importantly, technological neutrality
leaves vendors and service providers free to suggest new or developing technologies that meet the necessary
requirements that this International Standard describes.
As noted in the introduction, familiarity with ISO/IEC 27002 is indispensable for an understanding of this
International Standard.
1.2 Scope exclusions
The following areas of information security are outside the scope of this International Standard:
a) methodologies and statistical tests for effective anonymization of personal health information;
b) methodologies for pseudonymization of personal health information (see bibliographic Reference [10] for
an example of an IS~ Technical Specification that deals specifically with this subject);
c) network quality of service and methods for measuring availability of networks used for health informatics;
d) data quality (as distinct from data integrity).
2) This guideline is consistent with the revised version of ISO/IEC 27002:2005.
ISO 27799:2008 Referenced Document
ISO/IEC 27002:2005 Information technology - Security techniques - Code of practice for information security management
ISO 27799:2008 history
2016ISO 27799:2016 Health informatics - Information security management in health using ISO/IEC 27002
2008ISO 27799:2008 Health informatics - Information security management in health using ISO/IEC 27002