The technological implications of the Federal Health Care Reform are now becoming obvious, and states are beginning to confront the burden of implementing these changes. While extending health insurance to an additional 32 million Americans presents great opportunities for the state government, it also brings with it, big risks. And these risks are mainly associated…
According to GartnerG2 (now Gartner Industry Advisory Services) a research unit of Gartner, 90% of cyber attacks leverage known security flaws and vulnerabilities, for which patches are already available. Gartner analysts also believe that several security attacks could have been avoided if organizations had focused more on vulnerability management efforts. Effective vulnerability management is therefore…
Privacy protection is a growing concern for organizations despite stringent laws governing data security. Medical institutions especially are experiencing challenges in safeguarding patient information. A number of data breaches have been reported in the HIPAA healthcare industry so far. And the most recent addition to this is six hospitals and a nursing home being fined…
The present IT environment is complex in nature, and much more than a handful of technical people operating and controlling systems with a few virus prevention tools. The complexity has increased manifold with a growing number of security threats being identified everyday. The security of confidential data is under question with potential risks from malicious…
‘Cyber security threats’ is now the core topic of discussion amongst enterprises and will continue to be in the coming years. This is because security concerns have assumed unimaginable dimensions in the past years, posing a major challenge to the survival of businesses. Hence enterprises are now focusing more on curbing threats and making their…
A portable hard drive containing personal health information was reported lost, putting records of 280,000 Medicaid enrollees in Pennsylvania at risk. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Keystone Mercy Health Plan and AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan used this portable hard drive at community health fairs, and that it was lost within the companies’ corporate offices. The…
According to market analyst firm IDC, file data accounts for nearly 80% of business data and has been growing at a rate of 60% every year. With such overwhelming growth in the volume of sensitive data files, persistent insider threats and complex regulatory mandates for data protection, there is immense pressure on organizations to secure…
Gone are the days when hackers attacked perimeter defences. Today their objective is to take control of confidential data and the applications which process them. Hacking is now an operation involving global coordination, sophisticated techniques and persistent teamwork. And with clear roles and responsibilities being defined in the community, hacking is now a highly organized,…
Computer-based criminal activity is not a new trend. It has been prevalent for several years. However, we cannot deny the fact that illegal activities such as data theft and misuse have become far more pervasive in the recent years. And in most cases backup data seem to be the main target of cyber criminals. There…
While the financial services regulatory reform bill signed into law by President Obama last week will take some time to be put into practice, several industry experts have noted that this extensive legislation holds immense significance for information/ data security. Creation of a new consumer protection agency at the Federal Reserve, provision of new powers…
