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Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas a Happy New Year to All of You
Thank you so much for all your support in 2014. We are already planning for 2015. Many of you may have already gotten calls from me as I contact you to get feedback on a [...]
Bonus Depreciation Was Just Raised to $500,000 for 2014
We wrote to you three weeks ago to remind you of your $25,000 for tax deduction and bonus depreciation on certain IT and other assets. We have a news flash, the senate just passed a [...]
What nineteen audiences in twelve months taught me?
Navigating Fear in the Security and Compliance World
In advancing technology it is fear of having a project go sideways, over budget or fail to accomplish the stated objective that has many frozen. What if that technology we recommend doesn’t work as we hope? What if it is something required by law (such as encryption in healthcare) that we fear an unknown outcome so much that we won’t act? What if we miss a key component of a project or underestimate the effort required and the entire project goes over our budget?
Senate Passes Retroactive Tax Relief Under Section 179
This is one time you may want to make a quick call to your accountant, then order up some of those infrastructure items you are putting off. A bill known as “tax extenders” if signed by the [...]
How Can An IT Security Breach Cost Me My Job? The Sony Pictures Case
I don’t normally give a moments notice to stuff that goes on in Hollywood, but the story “Future of Sony's Amy Pascal questioned after hacked email revelations” caught my attention because of the cyber security aspect involved. So often I hear executives say something similar to “I don’t worry about our security because we don’t have anything anyone would want to hack into.”
That complacent assessment is wrong as most everyone knows since today nearly all hacking/security breach incidents are the result of indiscriminate malware that scans the Internet searching for vulnerable systems. When that malware finds a vulnerable system most of them run automated code that looks for passwords, bank account information, encrypts data for ransom, etc.
In this particular case a ton of data was stolen and released. The implication for Sony Pictures Co-Chairman is that her personal e-mails were....
Why Will My Company be Listed on the HHS Wall of Shame?
6 Reasons Organizations Fail to Encrypt ePHI
The drumbeat of HIPAA breaches in the media is incessant, and the refrain is the same: yet another PC containing electronic protected health information is stolen, so the organization is compelled to notify patients, Health and Human Services, and the media. The Office of Civil Rights swoops in, levies a 7 figure fine, and posts the offender on the HHS “Wall of Shame”, resulting in a damaged reputation and loss of future earnings.
Ironically, had the PC’s hard-drive been encrypted, the loss would have been a non-event, unreportable given the Safe Harbor provisions of HIPAA. And inexpensive encryption technology has been readily available for years. Yet, 538 or 46% of the 1,171 Breach Notifications posted on the Wall of Shame stem from the simple loss of a computer with an unencrypted hard-drive.
So, if it is so obvious how to correct the deficiency that single-handedly accounts for the most frequent HIPAA Breach Notifications, why don’t more organizations properly encrypt and protect the ePHI entrusted to them? Here are the six most common reasons we discover during our risk assessments …