Case Study: Florida Department of Health secures e-gov health services and reduces vulnerabilities with Qualys

Florida Department of Health - Automating Network Security to Protect E-Gov Health Services and Data

The Florida Department of Health, a statewide agency serving 17 million residents with 17,000 employees, needed to modernize security as part of the state’s e‑government initiative. Facing tighter legislative and HIPAA requirements, distributed operations and just ~400 IT staff (about two dozen focused on security), the department required automated, cost‑efficient vulnerability management to secure sensitive health data and meet compliance mandates.

DOH built an automated network event monitoring system combining open source tools with commercial products and selected QualysGuard as its on‑demand vulnerability management solution. QualysGuard enabled full-network monthly scans (daily for critical systems), verified patching, reduced false positives and vulnerabilities, provided auditor-ready documentation, and cut vulnerability-management costs by as much as 90%. As a result, the department strengthened its layered defenses, quickly contained threats, and reports no incidents that put data at risk.

Florida Health

David Taylor

CIO