Do you use remote access to get into your office computer when you aren’t there? Is it protected behind a firewall? Do they use virtual private networks for access? If they don’t, your practice could be the next victim of a cybersecurity incident similar to the ransomware attack that just hit the Center for Orthopedic Specialists (COS) and encrypted 85,000 patient records.
According to COS’s April 18 web notice, “The patient data that was encrypted by the unauthorized party could have included a patient’s name, date of birth, details about their medical records, and Social Security number.
To the best of our knowledge, no patient information was downloaded or removed by the unauthorized party.”
As an ACS client, we will ensure that your Remote Desktop Protocols are closed and / or secure. We will be sure that your firewalls are sound and that your multi-tier security plan that is customized for your office is in place. However, sometimes it’s not about your hardware security.
Verizon’s recent Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that the healthcare industry was the only sector that had more human error behind data breaches than external factors. Errors made up the most common type of cyber incident in healthcare, followed by malware, hacking, and privilege misuse. There were more than 750 cyber incidents last year in the healthcare industry, of which 536 actually involved data disclosure, 63% of those where attributed to miscellaneous errors, crimeware, and privilege misuse.
How many times have you heard us say it… People, Process and Technology! Your MSP can only support and protect your technology portion. In order to be fully protected, you need to rely on the ACS HIPAA Program. Then you can rest assured that all of the education and training your practice needs is available to you.
Imagine being able to remove more than 50% of the threats to data breaches with one easy call to ACS Technologies. If you are already a HIPAA Program client, you can continue to just sit back and relax, we’ve got you covered!
