Strategic approach to information security and assurance in health research.

Information security and assurance are an increasingly critical issue in health research. Whether health research be in genetics, new drugs, disease outbreaks, biochemistry, or effects of radiation, it deals with information that is highly sensitive and which could be targeted by rogue individuals or groups, corporations, national intelligence agencies, or terrorists, looking for financial, social, or political gains. The advents of the Internet and advances in recent information technologies have also dramatically increased opportunities for attackers to exploit sensitive and valuable information.