October Is Cyber Security Awareness Month!

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Jean Eaton in Blog

Cyber Security Awareness – 4 Cyber Security Tips to Keep Your Business Safe and Secure

Keeping information safe and secure is challenging developments for businesses of all sizes over the last few years. Remote working and using cloud hosted services forced healthcare practices to change, or at least reexamine, their cybersecurity practices and protocols. According to CyberEdge’s Cyberthreat Defense Report, 85% of organizations suffered from a successful cyberattack in 2021.

Now, businesses who have suffered cyberattacks along with companies who’ve been fortunate enough to avoid being a victim of breaches and hack are looking at ways they can bolster their defenses and safeguard their data. But which plans, practices, and services should these organizations invest in?

Below are 4 steps businesses of all shapes and sizes can take to better protect themselves against cyber attacks:

Identify “Crown Jewels” of Your Business

Understanding what information cybercriminals are after most is essential to combating cyber attacks. Know where your patient, employee, business, financial data is collected and stored in your practice and by your vendors. Create a written inventory of your data and the hardware and software you use to manage and store the data. Review who has access to important data and end outdated user access to anyone who does not need access to the data to do their job. This practice will ensure that business leaders have a track record of accessibility so that they know where to look in case of a vulnerability or breach.

Protect Assets by Updating and Authenticating

Protecting your data and devices from malicious actors is what cybersecurity is all about. Make sure your security software is current. When you invest in the most up to date softwares, web browsers, and operating systems you defend against a host of viruses, malware, and other online threats. Furthermore, make sure these devices have automatic updates turned on so employees aren’t tasked with manually updating devices. Additionally, make sure all data is securely backed up in a remote location.

Another important way to keep your assets safe is by ensuring staff are using strong authentication to protect access to accounts and ensure only those with permission can access them. This includes strong, secure, and differentiated passwords. According to a 2021 PC Mag study, 70% of people admit they use the same password for more than one account. Using weak and similar passwords makes a hacker's life a lot easier and can give them access to more materials than they could dream of. See “How Does Unique User ID Protect Patient Information In Your Practice?”

Finally, make sure employees are using multi-factor authentication. While this may result in a few extra sign-ins, MFA is essential to safeguarding data and can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful breach.

Monitor and Detect Suspicious Activity

Companies must always be on the lookout for possible breaches, vulnerabilities and attacks, especially in a world where many often go undetected. This can be done by investing in cybersecurity products or services that help monitor your networks such as antivirus and antimalware software. Moreover, make sure your employees and personnel are following all established cybersecurity protocols before, during, and after a breach. Individuals who ignore or disregard important cybersecurity practices can compromise not only themselves, but the entire organization. Paying close attention to whether your company is fully embracing all of your cybersecurity procedures and technology is incumbent upon business leaders.

Have an Incident Response Plan Ready

No matter how many safeguards you have in place, the unfortunate reality is that cyber incidents still occur. However, responding in a comprehensive manner will reduce risks to your business and send a positive signal to your customers and employees. Regular cyber security awareness training will help prevent incidents and help you to quickly respond to an incident when it happens. Therefore, businesses should have a cyber incident response plan ready to go prior to a breach. In it, companies should embrace savvy practices such as disconnecting any affected computers from the network, notifying your IT staff or the proper third-party vendors, and utilizing any spares and backup devices while continuing to capture operational data.

Here's a great no-cost opportunity to provide cyber security awareness training to your team!

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, a global effort to help everyone stay protected whenever and however you connect. The overarching theme for the month is, ‘Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.’ and Information Managers is proud to be a champion and support this online safety and education initiative this October.

Events This Month

Myla Cybersecurity Training Anne Genge cyber security awareness

Ask your questions live with Cybersecurity and Data Privacy experts in an interactive webinar format.

Join us for the first “Ask Me Anything” style webinar for healthcare professionals, practice managers, privacy officers, and owners on Friday October 21 at 1pm EST. It’s free to attend. Once you register, you’ll have access to the Zoom link on the day of the event.

We know that when we train our teams to identify cybersecurity risks, that we can reduce our risk of a business disruption and privacy breaches. And, when an incident occurs, we can identify the problem more quickly and reduce the harm and the cost.

It all starts with better understanding cybersecurity.

Click the button to hop over to the Myla Training website for more information and to register right away!

CyberSecurity Champions

cyber security awareness month champion

Information Managers Ltd has been a CyberSecurity Champion for many years – and now you can, too!

We want to help you, your family, friends and our community stay protected all year long, too. We encourage you to sign up as an individual Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion. After signing up, you’ll receive a toolkit of free resources, including simple online safety habits and steps you can take to #BeCyberSmart.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is co-led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For more information about ways to keep you and your family safe online visit https://staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awareness-month/ and/or cisa.gov/ncsam.

Follow Information Managers blog posts, social media, and resources that you can download and use right away!

#BeCyberSmart

Keeping Privacy Active in the Minds of Clinic Staff

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Meghan in Blog

As an employer and health care provider, you are responsible to provide training to all of your employees about privacy awareness. If you don’t provide the training, if the employees don’t understand the policies and there is a privacy breach, then the healthcare provider is more likely to be held accountable under the legislation and face penalties including fines and even prison!

Protect your organization and your patients. Equip your staff with the information they need to confidently and correctly handle personal health information. Healthcare businesses who want employee and supervisor level privacy awareness training to support key policies, procedures and risk management programs need a privacy awareness training program.

How do you keep privacy active in the minds of your clinic staff?

Below are a number of simple, low-cost tips that you can use right away to build privacy awareness training in your practice.

Start a privacy awareness training program

The super-easy way to start a simple privacy awareness training program in your organization is to start with your Health Information Privacy and Security Policies and Procedures Manual. Take one policy or procedure a week or month, circulate it for review, and then circulate a short follow-up quiz specific to your organization.

If you circulate the quiz by email, depending on which email service you use, you may be able to use the built-in poll feature. You send out the question and in the poll, your team replies with the best answer. That way, you also build in a way to document that people received and responded to your quiz.

Listen to podcasts or watch YouTube videos on privacy awareness during a team meeting

Practice Management Nuggets For Your Healthcare Practice is a regular interview series with practice managers, healthcare providers, or trusted vendors who support healthcare practices. Topics include things you need to know to help you start, grow, fix, or maintain your healthcare practice. The events will be short – about 30 minutes – with nuggets of information that you can use right away. You can listen to these interviews as a podcast or watch them on YouTube.

Recent training topics have included:

Take a Privacy Awareness Training course as a team

Regular privacy awareness training protects patients, employees, and your business.

Privacy Awareness in Healthcare Online Training and Privacy Awareness in Health Care Training – Dental Practices are online courses offered by Corridor Interactive.

In the course best fit for your practice, you and your staff will learn:

Understand patient and client privacy rights.
Respect personal health information and your obligations.
Confidently and correctly handle personal health information.
Use reasonable safeguards to protect personal health information (PHI).
Recognize and respond to a privacy breach
Support key policies, procedures and risk management programs in your healthcare practice.

Become a Practice Management Success member

Practice Management Success is an online community with tips, tools, and templates you can use right away to start, grow, fix, or maintain your healthcare practice. Membership is open to all healthcare practices of any size. Members have access to online resources and networking and support from other clinic managers, practice managers, and healthcare providers in independent community practices!

When you are a member of Practice Management Success, you also have access to the Q&A With Jean training library.Use these privacy awareness training videos where you can select the topics that are of interest to your practice. Each Q&A recording includes training (usually 10-30 minutes), and most have training notes or resources that you can download and use right away.

Members also have access to Policy and Procedure Orientation For Your Employees training videos.

Subscribe to Privacy Nuggets Newsletter

Privacy Nuggets are posted on the Information Managers blog and also sent to you by email when you subscribe to the Privacy Nuggets newsletter. These articles explore recent privacy breaches and provide a training tip on how to prevent a similar breach from happening in your practice and tips on how to respond to a similar privacy breach incident. You are welcome to share the articles and emails with your team and use this as a training tool, too!

CyberSecurity Awareness Month

The line between our online and offline lives is indistinguishable. In these tech-fueled times, our homes, societal well-being, economic prosperity and nation’s security are impacted by the internet.

The overarching theme for Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2020 is “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.” The theme empowers individuals and organizations to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace, with a particular emphasis on the key message for 2020: “If you connect it, protect it.” If everyone does their part – implementing stronger security practices, raising community awareness, educating vulnerable audiences or training employees – our interconnected world will be safer and more resilient for everyone.

Information Managers Ltd has been a Cyber Security Champion for many years – and now you can, too!

Cyber Security Awareness Month was launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) & the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in October 2004. This US organization sponsors a multi-media resource campaign each October.

Become a Champion

You can become a Champion, too – and get direct access to all the resources.

Demonstrate to team the importance of cyber security at work.
Share with your patients – by posters in your practice, blog posts, or your email newsletters – and demonstrate that your practice is cyber aware and you want to share tips with them.
If you have team members who work remotely, work from home, use their own mobile devices, or use the internet to connect with apps and resources – give them additional skills to do their work as safely as possible.
Help your team members better manage their own personal information in their personal lives – good habits that will help them at work, too!

Becoming a Champion is easy and does not require any financial support. Become a Champion here https://staysafeonline.org/ncsam/champions/.

Throughout October, NCSA will focus on the following areas in our promotions and outreach. Partners are welcome to follow along with NCSA but also encouraged to create their own areas of focus relevant to their organization:

There is a #BeCyberSmart theme for each week in October.

October 1 and 2: Official kick-off for the month

Week of October 5 (Week 1): If You Connect It, Protect It

Week of October 12 (Week 2): Securing Devices at Home and Work

Week of October 19 (Week 3): Securing Internet-Connected Devices in Healthcare

Week of October 26 (Week 4): The Future of Connected Devices

Watch for resources from Information Managers during Cyber Security Month.

When we know better, we can do better…

Jean Eaton is constructively obsessive about privacy, confidentiality, and security especially when it comes to the handling of personal health information. If you would like to discuss how I can help your practice, just send me an email. I am here to help you.

Jean L. Eaton
Your Practical Privacy Coach
INFORMATION MANAGERS

#BeCyberSmart, cyber security, healthcare, privacy, privacy awareness in healthcare, privacy awareness training

Cyber Security Awareness Training for You!

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Jean Eaton in Blog

Did you know?

1/3 of all healthcare employees who should receive cyber security training, don’t get cyber security training.

You can do better!

Start here.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! #BeCyberSmart

A great no-cost opportunity to provide cyber security awareness training to your team!

Cyber Security Awareness Training By Email

To celebrate Cyber Security Awareness Month, Information Managers is hosting free training tips by email throughout October.

In this training, Jean L. Eaton, Your Practical Privacy Coach will share cyber security tips and resources with you!

You can forward the email to easily share the tips and resources with your team.

Or, they can sign up to the email training, they will receive emails directly to their in-box.

Discuss the tips and posters to see how they best apply to your work or home cyber security practices.

Your Cyber Security Awareness Tips will be delivered to the email address that you enter above.

You'll also benefit from occasional emails about privacy and practice management.

We don't share or sell your information. Ever.

Follow Us On Social Media!

Throughout October, we will cyber security tips and free links to additional resources on our social media accounts that you can download right away! Follow us!

Whether you’re at work, at home, or on the go, threats to cybersecurity and sensitive data can follow you. Our uber-connected world makes it more important than ever to know the threats and their potential consequences.