The Three Major Security Threats in Healthcare free essay sample

Nowadays Doctors and Nurses has several mobile devices in order to provide patient care. We will write a custom essay sample on The Three Major Security Threats in Healthcare or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Virtualization is very important in providing adequate and affordable patient care in the rural health industry. Attempts to breach security happen every day in our agency. Preventing cyber-attacks and security breaches is a never ending battle in network security. Introduction I am an IT professional focusing on network security in the healthcare industry. Every day we monitor the network for phishing/pharming, DoS attacks, Trojans, and other security breaches. Mobile Devices, virtualization and lackadaisical end-users are the biggest threats to network security. Mobile Devices An article in GCN says it best, â€Å"Mobile devices are ubiquitous in todays society, and the number and types of devices used by physicians, nurses, clinicians, specialists, administrators and staff – as well as patients and visitors – is growing at healthcare agencies across the country.† Nowadays Doctors and Nurses has several mobile devices in order to provide patient care. Cellphones, laptops, and tablets are of the norm. I can’t remember the last time I had a doctor’s visit and the doctor didn’t update my chart using a laptop or tablet. All of these wireless devices make the network vulnerable. In my opinion wireless security has always been the hardest part of the network to protect because there isn’t a physical connection that can be monitored. End-users don’t always use secure passwords or they share passwords. At our agency an employee is not allowed to bring in a mobile device other than a personal cellphone to the workplace in order to reduce security breaches. â€Å"The Office of Management and Budget, Personal Identity Verification cards had been issued to 3.75 million federal employees as of Dec. 1, 2010, or 80 percent of the government workforce, and to 76 percent of contractors who are eligible to use the cards, about 885,000 contractors.† My agency uses Personal Identity Verification or PIV cards to gain access to wired devices on the network unfortunately that is not the case for wireless devices. Although we have two-party authentication in place for all devices it would be nice to have tertiary layer such as a smart card or PIV card for wireless devices. I don’t foresee a solution happening for a few years due to the cost in an already financially burdened healthcare system. It is true that â€Å"a reliance on off-the-shelf products means that there will be no PIV card readers available for workers signing on to check e-mail or read a document while out of the office.† Virtualization The agency I work for specializes in rural healthcare therefore often they don’t have the equipment or the staffing to complete tasks such as reading X-rays, providing behavioral health etc. Over the years we have had to implement Telehealth in order to meet these requirements. A patient in rural Minnesota may have his or her x-rays read by a physician in Billings, Montana. An individual may have weekly counseling sessions with a psychiatrist that is 500 miles away. Nowadays most healthcare companies use electronic health records to access patient information. Denial of Service DoS attacks happen when a hacker manages to overload a server to render it useless. A DoS attack is prevalent and damaging in virtualized environments and can preventsthe physicians and nurses from retrieving a patient’s information. If they are unable to access patient history to include what medications they are on or what they may be allergic to etc then they are unable to provide or give the wrong patient care which could be deadly. Therefore virtualization is very important in providing adequate and affordable patient care in the rural health industry. End-Users Our agency has mandatory computer security and security training every year in an effort to preempt attacks on the network. This mandatory training is required to be taken by every employee including the IT department. Attempts to breach security happen every day in our agency. Although we have security measures in place we have to constantly educate our end users on how to handle suspicious activity, password safety etc. Unfortunately there is always that one person that opens a suspicious email or shares their password or loses their token or PIV card and they don’t report it. This makes the network vulnerable. I have always believed that end users are a company’s biggest security risk. Allowing end users to access social media, personal email etc can allow for viruses to infect PC’s server’s etc. Once a virus is in the network it will spread like wildfire which will cripple the network. Prevention We use a lot of tools to constantly monitor the network to prevent DoS attacks, viruses, packet sniffing, phishing etc. We have implemented Websense as a means of policing what websites an end-user can surf to. We have firewalls in place to prevent end-users as well as outsiders from having access to IP ranges on our network as well as outside the network. We use access list on the routers as another layer of protection. We have penetration testers in our department whose only purpose is to look for packet sniffing and holes in the network. We have another group that monitor’s suspicious activity on the network such as a spike in bandwidth or an IP that is sending or receiving a large amount of information for specific length of time. Preventing cyber-attacks and security breaches is a never ending battle in network security. Conclusion Healthcare news states that â€Å"†¦Healthcare is driving the need for network security solutions that can cover multiple types of devices and infrastructure components.† Although we are largely driven by the Federal Communications Commission and HIPPAA my department is constantly implementing new devices and measures to secure the network and protect patient and employee information. This takes constant training and a lot of due diligence to accomplish that goal. References Are mobile devices already making PIV cards obsolete? Retrieved on October 13, 2013 from http://gcn.com/articles/2011/03/11/piv-status-update.aspx PIV Cards are in the hands of most federal employees and contractors, Retrieved on October 13, 2013 from http://gcn.com/articles/2011/03/11/piv-status-update.aspx Top Five Security Threats in Healthcare, Retrieved on October 14, 2013 from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/top-5-security-threats-healthcare

USF Graduate School Admissions Essay Sample

USF Graduate School Admissions Essay SampleThe USF Graduate School Admission Test is also known as USF GRE). It is one of the most commonly used academic achievement tests in the country and a required subject for many high schools and colleges. So, how does a writer to be able to apply for USF Graduate School?The Writing Test will consist of two parts. One part will be a multiple choice essay that requires the writer to summarize their research, argument, or evidence. They will then have to write a second section where they must write a sentence describing the type of research and/or argument they presented. This essay is read by a panel of evaluators, who will assess it based on the material presented and whether or not the essay is interesting, plausible, and relevant to the topic being studied.To pass the test, the writer must write a document that includes their original source, as well as a thesis statement that explains why that source should be used in the project. In additio n, the writer must describe their research or argument clearly, accurately, and consistently throughout the essay.The document must be sufficiently organized that it can be understood quickly by the evaluators, yet must present an original point of view that provides substantial evidence for the thesis. It must also be grammatically correct and adhere to certain guidelines for proper structure.The essay must also have a reliable, detailed outline for the entire document, which provides an accurate and concise summary of the research or argument presented in the document. This must include the sources and methods used, as well as any other supporting evidence that the writer used or included in the document.It is important to understand that to earn the PhD degree from USF, the writing sample must include at least three original, published, peer-reviewed articles. (The three accepted publications will not necessarily be the same as those listed on the USF Graduate School website.) St udents must also submit written copies of their dissertations to the Writing Center in addition to their application and complete a PhD Dissertation Grading form in order to be awarded the doctoral degree.The essay is only one component of the extensive application process that the USF Graduate School requires all prospective students to complete. Students must provide a high school transcript, or proof of high school education, from their third to eighth grade years, a copy of a high school transcript or proof of high school education from their ninth through twelfth grade years, and an official transcript from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning.All applicants will be interviewed by the USF Graduate School Admission Committee. During this interview, applicants will be asked to discuss their academic background, their plans for their future, their academic goals, as well as any previous work experience that they had in a similar field. Applicants are also require d to submit an essay that describes how they plan to use the information they will receive during the interview to help them achieve their personal and professional goals.