Clearwater and 1stResponder Partner to Expand Cybersecurity Incident Response within Clearwater's Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) Portfolio

Nashville, TN (February 6, 2024) – Clearwater, the largest pure-play provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today a new partnership with cybersecurity and digital forensics company 1stResponder. The partnership will expand Clearwater’s set of incident response services within the company’s MSSP portfoliowhile also giving 1stResponder the ability to provide its clients with important cybersecurity enhancement through rapidly deployed Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, including 24/7 threat hunting, monitoring of endpoints, network and cloud environments, leveraging Clearwater’s Security Operations Center. 

As ransomware incidents proliferate across the healthcare industry, the Joint Commission issued cybersecurity guidelinescalling for hospitals to prepare for cyberattacks that could take down critical systems for a month or longer. Healthcare organizations must have an effective means to monitor, detect and respond to security incidents. Effective incident response is vital to minimizing downtime in the event of an attack and for protecting patients from harm that can come from delayed services and impacted procedures. 

With a highly skilled team of incident response specialists and security analysts, 1stResponder and Clearwater partner to provide a rapid and coordinated approach to detect, contain, investigate, and respond to active cyber incidents. 1stResponder’s forensic experts work together with Clearwater’s cybersecurity analysts and consulting team to determine breach exposure, provide digital forensics identifying root causes, and restore normal operations efficiently. Clearwater’s compliance experts are involved in helping prepare the organization for an Office for Civil Rights investigation, which is expected for any breach of 500 or more patient records. Additionally, Clearwater provides clients’ board of directors with a direct opinion of the root cause of the incident and recommended corrective and preventative actions to avoid future occurrences. 

Following the incident response process, organizations can leverage Clearwater’s MSSP portfolio for ongoing MDR services, including 24/7 threat hunting and monitoring of endpoints, network, and across hybrid-cloud environments. These ongoing Managed Detection and Response services leverage many of the tools used in the incident response process, making deployment straightforward, rapid, and efficient for clients. 

Services within Clearwater’s MSSP portfolio can be delivered in collaboration with 1stResponder, on a standalone basis, and as part of ClearAdvantage®, Clearwater’s popular, comprehensive cybersecurity and compliance managed services program for healthcare organizations. The program is designed to fulfill common cybersecurity and compliance gaps, like security program leadership, risk analysis, technical testing, incident response planning and tabletop exercises to prepare an organization for a potential attack, as well as other advisory support and guidance to ensure cyber-resiliency. 

The Clearwater-1stResponder partnership has already been proven to meet the needs of small-to-midsize healthcare organizations that are among the most vulnerable to debilitating cyberattacks. The two companies recently teamed to help a regional hospital recover from an attack, with 1stResponder providing digital forensics and other services to facilitate the safe resumption of operations while Clearwater’s Managed Security Services team has been engaged subsequent to the attack to provide continuous 24/7 security operations for the hospital moving forward. 

This past September, Clearwater was recognized among the top 50 in MSSP Alert’s annual publication of the Top 250 MSSPs in the world, and the company’s deep understanding of healthcare environments is increasingly making it the go-to MSSP for healthcare organizations seeking to bolster their cybersecurity defenses.    

“Effective risk management, monitoring, detection and response, as well as incident response capabilities, tailored to the needs of healthcare, are key components of a strong and resilient cybersecurity program for healthcare providers and digital health companies,” said Clearwater CEO Steve Cagle. “We are proud to partner with 1stResponder, a leader in the incident response space, to deliver on our mission of helping our clients move to a more secure, compliant, and resilient state so they can achieve their mission.” 

About Clearwater 

Clearwater helps organizations across the healthcare ecosystem move to a more secure, compliant, and resilient state so they can achieve their missions. The company provides a deep pool of experts across a broad range of cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance domains, purpose-built software that enables efficient identification and management of cybersecurity and compliance risks, and a tech-enabled, 24/7 Security Operations Center with managed threat detection and response capabilities. To learn more, please visit www.clearwatersecurity.com. 

About 1stResponder 

1stResponder provides a wide range of cybersecurity services including: Digital Forensics, Incident Response, Threat and Vulnerability Management and Security Assessments. The company specializes in handling cybersecurity needs across industries such as healthcare, financial services, and government. To learn more, please visit www.1stResponder.us.