Email and Web security for health Care organisations
Given the nature of the information handled by healthcare organisations on a daily basis, data security and the prevention of data leakages is imperative in order to uphold commitments to patient confidentiality, as well as complying with legal requirements.
The internet poses considerable security concerns within healthcare organisations if web access is not carefully monitored and protected. On the other-hand, the web is undeniably a significant enhancement to such organisations and many would consider such access a crucial component to daily tasks, improving the efficiency and accuracy of information exchange, while lowering costs and providing a better patient experience overall.
Therefore, the issue remains that whilst the internet may be positioned as business critical, because healthcare organisations are continuously dealing with highly personal patient information including medical records, patient social security numbers and credit card numbers, they must ensure that this information remains strictly confidential and is securely protected at all times.
Maildistiller enables Healthcare organisations to successfully maintain the high level of security and privacy required when handling confidential patient data, while simultaneously allowing staff productive web and email access critical to their role.
“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US and similar regulations around the world require healthcare providers to secure a patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI). Failure to prevent unauthorized leaks of confidential healthcare data can be costly to an institution in terms of fines, potential litigation and a damaged reputation.”
The HIPAA act also requires healthcare organisations to retain, records of information system activity such as audit logs.
In other words, healthcare organisations are required to retain comprehensive information in relation to the internet activity of staff in a readable and easily accessible form.
Maildistiller caters to such a requirement through the provision of detailed Web logs and comprehensive per user reporting, which provide visibility into inbound and outbound Internet traffic, detect and record anomalous incidents and allow institutions to prevent or proactively respond to future incidents.
Without such visibility many organizations often wrongly assume that protection is unnecessary and are largely unaware of security breaches.
More often than not, with zero malicious intent, it is staff who are responsible for unknowingly leaking important information or accidentally installing malware. However, the unintentional nature of the offence does not make the consequences any less destructive. An alarming majority of malicious code is embedded on websites that employees would traditionally access on a regular basis such as News and travel sites, or alternatively users are often tricked into visiting malicious sites through sophisticated targeted scams and misleading information. A few innocent clicks can suddenly clear the way for spyware and malware to install itself regardless of permissions and as a result create open backdoors by which hackers can access the healthcare organization’s confidential information.
Malware issues often result in critical down-time (meaning no email) and subsequent data loss (whereby patient data can be destroyed instantly) which can create unimaginably chaos within the organisation.
Additionally, if viruses are allowed to enter the organisation’s system this can quickly lead to system crashes, which not only results in costly IT repairs but also can lead to considerable down-time, a nightmare for healthcare agencies where email and web-access has become increasingly business-critical.
Web 2.0 platforms, particularly social media sites such as Facebook, have become exceptionally popular and although revered for their innovative nature, they have also been plagued with counter-productive issues and offering additional opportunities for security breaches. Whilst the majority of healthcare organisations have been quick to manage and filter general office email and lock-down exchange servers, these additional avenues for communication have made monitoring sensitive data much more difficult and the opportunity for security breaches, malicious attacks and the leaking of confidential information all the more probable.
Webmail, Instant Messaging, Social Networks, Blogs and File Sharing networks are just some of the platforms that are being commonly used to leak information either maliciously or accidentally. The problem is that the majority of security providers in the market overlook these popular avenues when supplying traditional web and email protection.
Maildistiller offers complete protection for both email and all web 2.0 and non-traditional platforms ensuring healthcare organisations are fully protected for all instances and the possibility of malicious attacks or critical data loss. Maildistiller offers these organization’s the ability to set granular controls on the use of such applications (e.g. restricting posting ability to Facebook during work hours), enabling productive use and preventing any reduction in morale while simultaneously minimizing risks.
In conclusion, implementing the Maildistiller service into healthcare organisations is an immediate and reliable solution to overcome the challenges that unrestricted web access can pose. By monitoring and controlling inbound and outbound web traffic, filtering all email at the internet level and offering the ability to securely archive important data received by email, Maildistiller provides a comprehensive solution to secure healthcare organisations from spam, viruses and malware, plus robustly protect against data leakage or the destruction of important information, providing complete HIPAA compliance and safeguarding the institution’s reputation.
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