With information security at the top its agenda, independent charity The Health Foundation (THF) chose Falanx Cyber Defence to help them deliver a Secure Data Environment that’s in the best of health.
Background
The Health Foundation (THF) is an independent charity with around 100 employees committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK. They award grants to those working at the front line and carry out research and analysis on matters of health policy and economics in order to inform government and the NHS.
The Health Foundation has access to confidential, pseudonymised data on the health of UK citizens, and its reputation is built on being a trusted and independent adviser, so information security is key to their success. THF decided they needed to ensure capability, capacity and security on a multi-threaded level to combat the potential for both external and internal risks.
At-A-Glance
Falanx Cyber Defence provided a complete solution including Penetration Testing, Security Consultancy, Security Monitoring and Remediation services to help THF create a sector-leading Secure Data Environment.
The solution helps keep pseudonymised patient information secure, combats both external and internal threats and is integral to THF’s reputation as a trusted adviser to government and the NHS.
Solution
THF decided to take a proactive approach and challenge their existing information security systems by asking Falanx Cyber Defence to perform a penetration test. The test demonstrated that the security architecture needed to be refined and Falanx Cyber Defence were asked to provide consultancy on a new design.
Working together the team set about designing a Secure Data Environment, using a holistic approach that encompasses not only IT assets, but infrastructure, people and process.
Arne Wolters, Senior Data Manager at the Health Foundation, said: “Working with Falanx we’ve been able to build information security into our IT solution from the design stages, safeguarding the information we process whilst allowing our analysts to apply novel data analysis techniques. Our environment is fit for purpose and all tests indicate we’ve developed a very strong, secure system”.
The Health Foundation identified the need for active monitoring of their environment. As a consequence, THF asked Falanx Cyber Defence to provide a security monitoring and remediation service.
The monitoring service went live in August, 2016.
Benefits
THF’s Secure Data Environment project was supported at board level because it was clear that security was a key differentiator and critical to the reputation of THF as a trusted advisor and influencer.
THF supports the new systems with an on-going program of information governance and information security awareness. The security monitoring and remediation services mean the organisation gets daily and monthly summary reports, operational reporting and trend analysis supporting continuous improvement of the Secure Data Environment.
