HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, directly affects all organizations that directly maintain and transmit protected health information. These include: health care providers hospitals physician practices dental practices health plans laboratories health care clearinghouses pharmacies, etc. In addition, business associates who work with these organizations and have access to protected health information, or PHI, now also fall under the HIPAA … [Read more...]
Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report
The Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report was recently released for 2015. The report has become an information security industry standard report since its inception in 2008. The report analyzes thousands of confirmed data breaches and security incidents from around the world and offers trends and guidance regarding security practices. Some of the highlights from this year’s Data Breach Investigations Report include the following: Top three industries affected are public, … [Read more...]
Proper Handling of Electronic Data
No one plans to have a data breach. People don’t intentionally leave themselves open to electronic data theft. But because some business owners and managers are not intentional about having a plan to protect their electronic data, many do put their companies at risk of a data breach or theft of electronic data. Most companies are aware of the risk of information theft associated with paper documents. Many have contracted with paper shredding companies to destroy their paper files. They will … [Read more...]
Data Destruction on Android Smartphones
When it comes to data containing devices, like your smart phones, many people believe that using a system restore or doing a factory reset is enough to delete all of the personal information that is on the device – but that is not always true. When it comes to Android smartphones, simply doing a factory reset on older versions is not enough to keep your information safe from someone who really wants to get it off your old phone. Think of all the things you or your employees may have stored … [Read more...]
Keeping Trade Secrets a Secret
Maybe you think your business isn’t big enough to have trade secrets – but if you have a list of customers, you have trade secrets. And trade secrets are worth protecting. A trade secret is defined as any valuable commercial information that provides a business with an advantage over competitors who do not have that information. Trade secrets tend to fall into two categories – either technical information or business information. Examples of technical trade secrets include: Plans, … [Read more...]
10 Tips for Preventing Identity Theft
Identity theft not only happens online, but a lot of identity theft fraud is a result of offline activities. In fact, we were victims of identity theft because a mortgage broker mishandled the paper file that contained all of our personal financial information. Here are 10 tips, courtesy of the U.S. government, on how to prevent offline identity theft. Don’t carry your social security card on you. Not in your wallet. Don’t write it on your checks. Only give it out when absolutely … [Read more...]
Corporate Espionage in India
Threats to data security are a global problem as businesses in India are finding out. In particular, Indian companies are increasingly at risk of corporate espionage and are racing to IT security firms for help. According to an article in The Economic Times/India Times, some studies indicate that as much as 35% of Indian companies engage in some form of corporate espionage. Corporate espionage is defined as companies that indulge in illegal and unethical activities to gain information from … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Data Protection
In an article to its community, MIT offered 5 tips for data protection that are valuable for small to medium business owners as well. Data Security is Fundamental MIT is smart in pointing out that data protection and security is crucial to their operations and all parties within the college and businesses that provide services to the college should include a review of data security processes. Small to medium businesses would be wise to follow this same advice. As a business leader, if … [Read more...]
NAID – Nat’l Assoc for Information Destruction
The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) is the international trade association for companies providing information destruction services. As more businesses realize their liability for the data security on their data containing devices, there will be a growing demand for companies who treat information destruction as a profession and not just a by-product of an electronic recycling business. Voluntary membership in NAID is one way to separate organizations who want to make … [Read more...]
Out with the Old Technology, In with the New
Need ideas for good technology gifts for the small business owner and entrepreneur in your life? There are so many new gadgets and gizmos out there that finding the right one for that special guy or gal can be a challenge. The folks at www.SmallBusinessComputing.com put together a nice list of 10 ideas that you might find helpful. What I appreciated about these technology gifts is the range in price – from $60 to $1000 – something for every budget. Their technology picks … [Read more...]