Free HITRUST CCSFP Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 5

A Readiness Assessment Report is self-assessment–based and prepared with or without an assessor to help organizations identify control gaps.

The highest level of assurance is provided by a Validated Assessment Report, which undergoes external assessor validation and HITRUST quality assurance.

Therefore, a readiness assessment does not provide the highest level of assurance.

Extract Reference (HITRUST Assurance Program Guidance [0019]):

Readiness Assessments help identify gaps but do not provide certification or the highest level of assurance; only validated assessments do.

The HITRUST CSF is designed to apply comprehensively across all transmission and storage methods for sensitive information. This includes:

Electronic transmission (e.g., email, secure messaging, EDI).

Physical storage and transfer (e.g., paper records, removable media).

Cloud storage and hosted environments.

Internal system storage (databases, file servers, applications).

By ensuring coverage across all methods, HITRUST aligns with regulatory expectations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI-DSS, which emphasize protecting data in motion, at rest, and in use. Organizations must implement technical, administrative, and physical controls to ensure that sensitive data is safeguarded regardless of its format or method of handling. This broad applicability makes the CSF a flexible framework capable of addressing modern hybrid IT and physical environments.