Finally a story about a CIO who takes on the data security threat from USB sticks and thumb drives. Earlier this week, in Health Data Management News, appeared a short article entitled “Data Security is The CIO’s Constant Challenge”. This is the story of Chuck Christian, CIO at Good Samaritan Hospital, Vincennes, Indiana and his IT department, and their efforts to protect private healthcare information and ensure HIPAA compliance.
Chuck explained “Earlier this year, Good Samaritan went well beyond its laptop policies, disabling USB ports across the computers connecting to its network. It was a pre-emptive move to preclude inappropriate data transfers to easily lost devices.”
Chuck Christian explained that disabling the USB ports definitely resulted in changes in behavior. Not least being the purchasing manager from the hospital who wanted to purchase thumb drives in bulk. Chuck’s response – “I said no.” To the credit of Chuck and his IT department they implemented a number of secure alternatives to enable staff at the hospital to get their jobs done.
It’s as simple as that. If you are in charge of data security “Just say no” when someone even suggests using a USB stick or bringing it into the workplace, and give them a secure alternative, such as Accellion secure file transfer.
Chuck Christian you are our Accellion Hero of the week.
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