Defrag This

In this episode of Defrag This, we share stories from the trenches of IT and how we found unlikely solutions to troubleshoot business networks.

In this episode of Defrag This, we share stories from the trenches of IT and how we found unlikely solutions to troubleshoot business networks.

George Orwell's book 1984, which he wrote in 1948, depicts a dystopian future of mass surveillance and misinformation. Much of what he imagined is very true today.

Are we living in a data dystopia? Have we passed the point of no return in this brave new world of data? There is data on all of us whether we like it or not, and that data can be used against us much of the time. Our data is on the black market, whether it is relevant or not.

If you are working in IT, you may not be entirely concerned with how your users protect their personal data, but you should be. Many people use the same passwords for personal use that they use to log into their business networks. For instance, maybe one of your users is using the same password that they have used for their Yahoo account for the past 10 years. To them it is a matter of convenience; to you it is a matter of a serious security breach.

George Orwell's book 1984, which he wrote in 1948, depicts a dystopian future of mass surveillance and misinformation. Much of what he imagined is very true today.

Are we living in a data dystopia? Have we passed the point of no return in this brave new world of data? There is data on all of us whether we like it or not, and that data can be used against us much of the time. Our data is on the black market, whether it is relevant or not.

If you are working in IT, you may not be entirely concerned with how your users protect their personal data, but you should be. Many people use the same passwords for personal use that they use to log into their business networks. For instance, maybe one of your users is using the same password that they have used for their Yahoo account for the past 10 years. To them it is a matter of convenience; to you it is a matter of a serious security breach.

Businesses in healthcare struggle with double standards, highly complex security infrastructure that is disjointed and redundant.

Lawmakers have a real hard time understanding and the terminology that is needed to enact laws around technology. A perfect example is how "encryption" is labeled as something that is "addressable" vs. "required" under HIPAA. Congress saying that encryption is not a requirement does a serious disservice to those who need to make decision for their company.

Encryption is a HIPAA requirement despite what the law says because there is no circumstance in which ePHI should not be encrypted. If your business is breached and you didn't have the proper security controls such as encryption in place, your business is open to fines into the millions of dollars as well as nasty civil suits by those affected by a breach.

But encrypting everything is easier said than done.

Defrag This host, Greg Mooney, and the VP of Security Solutions at Ipswitch, Rich Allen, discuss specifically how these attacks impact the healthcare industry.

What do IT professionals need to be aware of when it comes to IoT devices, and which devices you may not be considering that are still potential healthcare attack vectors? From the Anthem breach which effected almost 80 million people last year to the more recent Krebs on Security attack that took advantage of the IoT, overall businesses need to be more vigilant.