Healthcare Cybersecurity Compliance: Frameworks and Threat Modeling
The Role of Threat Modeling in Healthcare Compliance
Healthcare organizations worldwide face strict regulatory requirements to protect patient data, secure electronic health records, and prevent cyber threats. Threat modeling supports these mandates by helping teams proactively assess risk, identify vulnerabilities, and ensure appropriate security measures are in place, often as part of a documented compliance process.
ThreatModeler helps healthcare providers and their partners meet these expectations by aligning threat modeling with 180+ global compliance standards. Our platform enables security teams to automate risk analysis, validate technical controls, and produce audit-ready reports that support HIPAA, GDPR, PDPA, and other health data regulations.
The summaries below explain how threat modeling supports compliance across key healthcare frameworks, including required risk assessments and security-by-design practices, and how ThreatModeler simplifies implementation at scale.
Geography: United States
HIPAA Security Rule (45 CFR Part 164 Subpart C)
Description: Sets national standards for protecting electronic protected health information (ePHI).
Specifics: Applies to healthcare providers, plans, and clearinghouses that process ePHI.
Threat Modeling Alignment: Though ‘threat modeling’ is not mentioned, the rule mandates comprehensive risk analysis and threat identification.
As specified in the standards:
“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 covered entity or business associate.”
NIST SP 800-66 Rev. 1
Description: Provides implementation guidance for the HIPAA Security Rule using the NIST Risk Management Framework.
Specifics: Maps HIPAA safeguards to NIST controls and emphasizes risk-based practices.
Threat Modeling Alignment: This aligns closely with threat modeling by focusing on identifying threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts.
As specified in the guidance:
“Organizations should identify the threats to and vulnerabilities of the information system and determine the potential impact from those threats and vulnerabilities on the operations and assets of the organization.”
Geography: European Union
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Description: EU regulation governing personal data protection, including health data.
Specifics: Requires safeguards for sensitive data and the use of privacy-by-design principles.
Threat Modeling Alignment: Risk assessments and proactive security measures are core to compliance and align with threat modeling principles.
As specified in the regulation:
“Taking into account the state of the art, the costs of implementation and the nature, scope, context and purposes of processing as well as the risk… the controller and the processor shall implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk…”
Geography: United Kingdom
Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT)
Description: Self-assessment tool for NHS and healthcare providers to evaluate data security and cyber readiness.
Specifics: Includes technical, procedural, and governance measures for data protection.
Threat Modeling Alignment: While not explicitly requiring threat modeling, the DSPT strongly emphasizes identifying risks and applying proportional mitigations.
As specified in the toolkit:
“All staff understand their responsibilities under the Data Security Standards, including ensuring that personal confidential data is handled safely and securely and that appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to prevent data breaches and cyber threats.”
Geography: Asia-Pacific
PDPA – Personal Data Protection Act – Singapore
Description: Regulates personal data use and protection for organizations handling healthcare data.
Specifics: Covers data security, breach response, and risk-based controls.
Threat Modeling Alignment: Supports threat modeling by mandating identification of security risks to personal data.
As specified in the regulation:
“An organization shall make reasonable security arrangements to protect personal data in its possession or under its control to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal, or similar risks.”
My Health Records Act (2012) – Australia
Description: Framework for the management and protection of electronic health records in Australia.
Specifics: Applies to all system operators and healthcare organizations using the My Health Record system.
Threat Modeling Alignment: This requires identifying and mitigating risks to patient data in accordance with threat modeling practices.
As specified in the framework:
“Registered healthcare provider organisations must take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information held in the My Health Record system is protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.”
Geography: Latin America
LGPD – Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (2018) – Brazil
Description: Applies to organizations that collect or process personal health data in Brazil.
Specifics: Mandates data protection and security measures proportional to the risk.
Threat Modeling Alignment: Aligns with threat modeling through risk-driven requirements to prevent unauthorized access.
As specified in the regulation:
“The controller shall adopt security, technical and administrative measures able to protect personal data from unauthorized access and accidental or unlawful situations of destruction, loss, alteration, communication or any type of improper or illicit processing.”