Security for pharmacy data
Ten free public resources for intermediate learners who handle pharmacy and health data. The focus is protecting that data in the systems you already use: inventories, reports, portals, and shared files.
For learning, not compliance guidance. Pharmacy Canary is not affiliated with these organizations and earns nothing from these links. These pages are for study. They are not medical advice, legal advice, or a compliance program, so follow your organization's policies and qualified professionals. Links open in a new tab.
Rules and frameworks
The shared vocabulary behind security programs. Read these to learn what the words mean, then apply them to a pharmacy report or portal.
- Summary of the HIPAA Security Rule (HHS) ↗
HHS's overview of safeguards for electronic protected health information: who is covered, what is protected, and the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards the rule describes. A focused read. Introductory. Use it to learn the vocabulary. - Cybersecurity Framework (NIST) ↗
NIST's home for Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, the vocabulary many health organizations use to describe cybersecurity risk. The same page links the 2.0 document and quick-start guides. A few hours for the core ideas. Introductory to intermediate. - The 18 CIS Critical Security Controls ↗
A prioritized public list of safeguards. System inventory, access control, and audit logs are the ones that show up first in pharmacy data work. The page is the current list. A few hours to skim, then a reference. Intermediate. - OWASP Top 10 ↗
The standard short list of the most serious risks in web applications. Useful when a pharmacy portal or dashboard is a web app and a team needs a shared list of what can go wrong. A short read. Introductory.
Healthcare-specific
Written for health organizations, including the data pharmacy teams store and move.
- Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HHS 405(d)) ↗
Practices for health organizations from small practices to large systems, covering email, access, lost equipment, and connected devices. Start on this page, then open the main document. A long read you work through in sections. Intermediate. - Healthcare and Public Health Cybersecurity (CISA) ↗
CISA's hub for the healthcare and public health sector: training, incident-response planning, and basic cyber hygiene for health organizations. Browse and pick one topic. Mixed levels. - HHS breach portal: reported health information breaches ↗
The public list of breaches of health information affecting 500 or more people, posted by the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Each row shows the reported incident type and where the information was held, such as email or a server. A browse of real reports, so you can see the kinds of incidents that get reported.
Hands-on learning
Shorter material you can work through on your own time.
- OWASP Cheat Sheet Series ↗
Short practical sheets for one job at a time, including signing users in, session tokens, logging, and secrets. Read the sheet that matches the task in front of you. Each one is a short read. Intermediate. - Cybersecurity Training and Exercises (CISA) ↗
Free cybersecurity training from CISA, including self-paced online courses open to the public, from beginner through advanced. Pick one course. Time depends on the course. - CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 video course (Professor Messer) ↗
A free video course through Security+ topics: threats, architecture, and day-to-day security operations. The course page lists about 15 hours of video and says the videos are free. Introductory to intermediate. The certification exam is a separate paid step.
Coming later
A future track on this site may practice everyday habits for pharmacy data work: protected health information and the minimum necessary, access-log review, role audits, and secrets hygiene. Nothing is published yet, and there is no date.