Today I received notice that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just issued a new publication, “Security Guidance for Remote Use‚Äù which is actually dated 12/28/2006.
“This document is intended to provide HIPAA covered entities with general information on the risks and possible mitigation strategies for remote use of Electronic Protected Health Information (EPHI).”
Today I read a story appearing in the Des Moines Register, “Computer breach at UNI exposes some personal data” about a breach that occurred at one my alma maters, the University of Northern Iowa.
It bothered me the non-chalant way in which a computer breach was described as being “a pretty typical breach” by the Assoc. VP for Information Technology.
It makes it sound as though such breaches are to be expected. If appropriate safeguards are in place, though, these types of breaches should not occur.
On December 19, 2006, a computer systems administrator, Andy Lin, for Medco Health Solutions, Inc. was indicted by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for attempting to disable his employer’s corporate computer servers through the use of a concealed malicious software program.
Today (January 3) Lin is being arraigned. If convicted, he could get 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000; $250,000 for each of the two charges.
A great article was published on Law.com today written by Ryan Sulkin, “First Line of Defense Against Data Security Breaches: Employees.”
There are several points made that I hope business leaders read and take to heart.
On Wednesday the Queens Gazette ran a report on medical identity theft.
This certainly is an issue of concern. I blogged about medical identity theft earlier this year.
Combining identity theft with unauthorized access to medical information certainly can lead to magnified repercussions beyond wrecked credit ratings and hundreds of hours spent trying to clean up all the damage a criminal can do with personally identifiable information (PII). The potential increases for further abusing and horribly impacting the involved individuals, metally, physically and financially, by having access to their prescription information, insurance information, physician information, medical history, and everything else involved.
Yesterday USA Today ran a report, “Cybercrooks hold PC data captive.”
This is nothing new, I blogged about this type of ransom scheme earlier this year. The crooks are getting more creative.
Yesterday USA Today ran a report, “Cybercrooks hold PC data captive.”
This is nothing new, I blogged about this type of ransom scheme earlier this year. The crooks are getting more creative.
Tuesday Silicon Valley reported the U.S. Naval War College’s network and website had been down for over two weeks as a result of a hacker. The hacker apparently didn’t take the site and network down, but the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command took it offline after detecting the unauthorized access on, or around, November 16.
An article from last Wednesday (11/15) just caught my eye; it is intriguing: “Hoffacker charged with hacking system.” The article indicates a former VP of Technology at Source Media, Stevan Hoffacker, was
“charged with hacking into the company’s computer system three years after he was dismissed, and tipping off employees whose jobs were in jeopardy.”
Yesterday EARTHtimes, which appears to be a general news site, carried a story with a cute title that caught my eye, “Don’t be a turkey: Protect your laptop during holiday travel.”
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