Healthcare offices take note!

Since the beginning of the year there have been several articles published highlighting the desire of criminals to obtain our heath records. All of the articles point to the ease of targeting small business and small offices. It does not matter your size, information still sells. There are many theories out there as to why these criminals would be interested in our information. Frankly, all of the reasons “why” out there sound plausible to me; I don’t really care the reason, I am more interested in the fact that this is still a problem. We see the same thing everyday, offices that just swear they cannot afford to invest in security and IT for their office. Well my question to them is “How can you NOT afford it?”. First, let me point out that having your computers hooked right up to your high-speed connection with nothing in between is not secure-it is also not HIPPA compliant. Next, a router is not an acceptable security device. A router does nothing to stop anyone with even a small amount of desire and knowledge from getting into your network. Finally, at least an attempt at reasonable security does not have to be over the top expensive, but it does involve more than a router bought at your local office supply store. It is true that installing a basic firewall to protect your network-by the time it is all said and done-might run $1,000-$2,000, however a lawsuit or HIPPA fine will probably run you in the ten’s of thousands of dollars to start-if you are lucky! Never mind if the information gets out to your clients the damage it will do to your reputation. If you have a small office network, please call your favorite network PROFESSIONAL (most likely this is not your son or brother-in-law) and have them evaluate an appropriate solution for you. A sound investment now will last many years, and can save your office from an expensive and embarrassing situation. If you don’t have a favorite professional, contact us-We can help!