19
Explanation:
The HITRUST CSF is structured into19 domainsthat provide comprehensive coverage of information security and privacy practices. These domains represent major categories of controls such as Information Security Management, Endpoint Protection, Network Security, Access Control, Configuration Management, Incident Management, and Data Protection. Each domain contains multiplecontrol referencesmapped to requirement statements, which are tailored to organizational and regulatory factors. This domain structure ensures that assessments address administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards consistently across industries. All assessment types-whether e1, i1, or r2-utilize these 19 domains, although the number of requirement statements varies depending on the scope. The domain-based structure also supports HITRUST's mapping to authoritative sources like NIST, HIPAA, and ISO, ensuring consistency across compliance obligations.
References:HITRUST CSF Framework Overview - "Domain Structure"; CCSFP Study Guide - "The 19 Domains of the HITRUST CSF."

The responsibility for defining the scope of an assessment lies withclient management. The organization undergoing the assessment must identify which systems, applications, facilities, and business units are in scope. This decision is based on business objectives, regulatory requirements, contractual obligations, and the sensitivity of data being processed. External Assessors play a supporting role by reviewing scope decisions and ensuring they are reasonable and sufficient to meet assurance objectives. HITRUST does not define scope directly but requires that scope decisions be documented and defensible. An accurately defined scope ensures that the assessment reflects the organization's risk exposure without omitting critical components. Mis- scoping can either undermine assurance or create unnecessary testing burden.
References:HITRUST CSF Assurance Program - "Scoping Responsibility"; CCSFP Practitioner Guide -
"Roles in Defining Assessment Scope."

Regulatory factors are a mandatory part of the scoping process in r2 assessments. These factors represent applicable laws, regulations, or frameworks that impact the organization's operations. Examples include HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR, state data protection laws, CMS Minimum Security Requirements, and FedRAMP. When a regulatory factor is selected in MyCSF, additionalrequirement statementsare automatically generated within the assessment object. These statements tailor the control environment to match external obligations, ensuring alignment with compliance expectations.
For example, selecting PCI-DSS will add specific controls related to cardholder data protection. Selecting HIPAA will add requirements for safeguarding protected health information. Without selecting these factors, the assessment would not provide complete coverage, and certification would lack credibility. This dynamic tailoring is one of the strengths of HITRUST's risk-based approach, ensuring each entity's assessment is relevant to its regulatory landscape.
References:HITRUST CSF Methodology - "Regulatory Factors & Requirement Generation"; CCSFP Practitioner Training - "Tailoring Assessments with Compliance Factors."

The HITRUST CSF is designed to protectall forms of sensitive information, not just structured digital data.
This includeswords(text documents, records),numbers(financial data, identifiers),pictures(images, radiology scans, photographs), andsounds(voice recordings, call center data). The comprehensive scope ensures that entities consider every medium in which sensitive information may exist, whether electronic, physical, or spoken. This aligns with regulatory definitions, such as HIPAA, which recognizes both electronic and non- electronic forms of protected health information. By covering all forms, HITRUST ensures organizations apply consistent safeguards across their environments and do not overlook exposures outside IT systems, such as printed reports or recorded conversations.
References:HITRUST CSF Framework Overview - "Scope of Covered Information"; CCSFP Study Guide -
"Information Forms and Protection Requirements."

HITRUST distinguishes betweengroupedandungroupedcomponents. When primary components (e.g., servers, databases, firewalls) are not grouped, they must be tested individually. This is because each ungrouped component may have unique configurations, operational practices, or control implementations, meaning sampling would not yield accurate results. Sampling is only permitted when components are grouped and proven to befunctionally identical. In ungrouped situations, the assessor must test each component to validate control effectiveness. This ensures accuracy in scoring and avoids the risk of overlooking control failures in heterogeneous environments. Therefore, when components remain ungrouped, the assessor is required totest all components within scopeand cannot rely on sampling methods.
References:HITRUST CSF Assurance Program - "Component Scoping & Sampling"; CCSFP Practitioner Guide - "Ungrouped Component Testing."