HEALTHCAREANDCYBERSECURITYEDWARD WITHROW

WWW.EDWARDWITHROW.ORG

SECURITYCULTURE

Healthcare professionals mustunderstand that cybersecurity isimportant. Everyone should take precautions toprotect the private data of patientsregardless of their position.When people understand what asecurity culture entails, they’ll be lesslikely to make mistakes that couldjeopardize patient data. If the mindset of protecting patientdata is present from the beginning,mistakes will be less likely to occur.

MOBILEDEVICES

Mobile devices like cell phones andlaptops are easy to lose. They are alsoeasy to steal. These devices pose athreat to privacy. Staff who use laptops must be awareof their setting. They must make surethat no unauthorized person can viewthe information on the screen. If data is transmitted over a mobiledevice, it should be encrypted toensure its protection. Healthcare organizations also need tohave policies about taking mobiledevices out of the workplace.

COMPUTERHABITS

Computers must be properlymaintained in order to ensure theyare safe and function properly. This means that the computer shouldbe set up properly. It should bepassword protected, and it shouldn’thave unnecessary applications on itssystem. Computers should be updatedregularly to protect them from newthreats. Some organizations use parentalcontrols so that employees cannotdownload unnecessary files.

ANTI-VIRUSSOFTWARE

Every healthcare organization shouldemploy anti-virus software on itsdevices. New viruses appear every day, andhackers routinely develop newmethods to steal data. Even a new computer with the besthardware is vulnerable to viruses.Anti-virus software is relativelyinexpensive and worth theinvestment. Every computer should be set up sothat at the end of each day thesoftware scans for viruses.