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IMS operates secure computing facilities that power the systems we support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), central cancer registries, and more. These environments are designed to meet the demands of large-scale biomedical research where availability, security, and compliance are non-negotiable.
Application Support Environment
IMS maintains multiple NIH approved IT System Security Plans that meet OMB Circular A-130 guidelines and NIST guidelines for FISMA IT system security at the moderate level.
FISMA
moderate level compliance
24/7 security
and technical staff
99.9% uptime
of our computing facilities
Our computing resources support analytic processing, client/server systems, web applications, and secure file transfers within a firewall-protected environment. These systems maintain an uptime record of approximately 99.9%, supporting continuous access to critical research platforms.
Our infrastructure is deployed across a networked system of specialized servers with redundancy designed and built into all mission-critical services and components.
Access to IMS computing facilities is tightly restricted and granted only with documented approval.
Authorized personnel must present a government-issued photo ID, complete a biometric hand scan verification, and be escorted by security staff.
Our Linux, Windows, VMWare, and Kubernetes resources are configured as a networked system of computers so that services and resources are distributed across multiple servers.
These resources are used for n-tier client/server applications development, analytics, and SQL server and web application development.
Continuous monitoring allows IMS to always maintain a high level of situational awareness.
System logs are created and sent in real time to a centralized system for storage, correlation, analysis, monitoring, and alerting. These logs are continually scanned by software for anomalies and human-reviewed routinely.
Security scans are performed weekly and alerts are sent to relevant staff as situations arise.
IMS employs FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 solutions for encrypting all data at rest and in transit.
| Component | Encryption Software |
|---|---|
| All-flash block tier | Pure Storage Purity//FA operating system |
| All-flash object store tier | Pure Storage Purity//FB operating system |
| Networked attached tier | NetApp CryptoMod product |
| Backup appliances | Rubrik Cryptographic Library |
| Direct attached storage virtual desktop infrastructure |
VMware's VMkernel Cryptographic Module |
| Direct attached drives physical Linux servers |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
| Windows PCs | SecureDoc Cryptographic Engine |
All IMS staff requiring network access are required to use multi-factor authentication, and permissioned staff are required to provide an additional level of MFA to perform privileged administrative actions.
Database security is maintained using a password access system requiring users to create an account and authenticate to log onto IMS database servers.
All IMS staff who maintain security of the network and information stored within the network – system, network, single sign-on, and database administrators – have completed security background checks.
All IMS employees must pass an independent third-party background investigation, sign confidentiality statements, and complete security and privacy awareness training provided through the National Institutes of Health and KnowBe4.
Compliance
The IMS Application Support Environment (ASE), a part of the IMS Computer Center which supports a majority of IMS-supported platforms, websites, and computing systems, has an Authority to Operate (ATO) issued by the National Cancer Institute.
The ASE is audited annually by a certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO). Findings and remediation plans are actively maintained by IMS system and security teams and reviewed regularly with federal system owners to ensure ongoing compliance.
Our Biological Specimen Indicator (BSI) LIMS software and SEER Data Management System (SEER*DMS) undergo annual audits for System and Organization Controls (SOC 2) Type 2.
Research & Data Management
Our computing facilities are used nationwide by cancer registries to store and process data, support the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries VPR-CLS program through IMS's role as an honest data broker, and host SEER cancer registry data covering more than 50% of the U.S. population.
We also manage metadata and tracking information on over 150 million specimens through instances of our Biological Specimen Inventory (BSI) tool.
Federal Agencies SupportIMS has performed data management for divisions at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for more than 50 years. Our reliability as data handlers is possible through the specialized knowledge and expertise developed over decades by our system and security teams.
IMS staff have an average career tenure of 17 years and hold institutional knowledge catered to our client needs.
Our Team