07/12/2024    Howard E Friedman, DPM

Using Biometric Security for Login (Michael Brody, DPM)

The issue of password security is really one of
overall cybersecurity which every office as well as
every individual needs to take seriously.
Cybersecurity for healthcare is a focused topic of
the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency (CISA), a federal agency under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security
which does have online resources for the healthcare
sector (see below).

I believe that cybersecurity for healthcare should
be a topic addressed in continuing education
seminars. The recommendation for strong passwords
is on target. Passwords should be lengthy, complex
including letters, upper and lower case, numbers
and symbols and changed often. Password managers
are designed to keep track of these passwords.

Cybersecurity also includes training staff to avoid
phishing emails which are pervasive and to
scrutinize any email attachments before opening.
Furthermore, offices need to control who can access
patient information and how much information that
employee can access and where that information can
be accessed. In addition, all points of information
access need to be secured as well, from the
internet router to mobile devices. Computer
operating systems should be kept up to date with
new releases. Those software releases are often
patching newly detected vulnerabilities. All online
accounts used to access office information should
be very well protected with complex passwords and
multi factor authentication and this is especially
true for email accounts.

For offices that use cloud-based software we are
ultimately dependent on the cybersecurity practices
of that EHR or billing software company. But each
office needs to take the cybersecurity precautions
it can. Healthcare information is a prime target
for cyber criminals, be it to steal the protected
health information or for ransomware, as the recent
Change Health Care attack demonstrated. It is most
unfortunate that we have to dedicate resources to
online security, but that is the world we now live
in.

CISA Healthcare sector toolkit:
https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cybersecurity-best-
practices/healthcare/mature-your-cybersecurity-
efforts

Howard E Friedman, DPM, Suffern, NY

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