Data Breaches Cost Hospitals Billions

Image via Wikipedia

It makes one wonder how it reached this far.

‘Data breaches of patient information cost healthcare organizations nearly $6 billion annually, and that many breaches go undetected, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute.

‘The research indicates that protecting patient data is a low priority for hospitals and that organizations have little confidence in their ability to secure patient records, putting individuals at great risk for medical identity theft, financial theft and embarrassment of exposure of private information.

“Our research shows that the healthcare industry is struggling to protect sensitive medical information, putting patients at risk of medical identity fraud and costing hospitals and other healthcare services companies millions in annual breach-related costs,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder, Ponemon Institute.

“At this point one would hope to see that healthcare organizations have improved information security practices and come into compliance with HITECH, now that it’s been more than one year since it was enacted. Instead we found enormous vulnerabilities. The protection of patient data should be at the forefront of their efforts” he added…’ Details:
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=10125

Facebook Messages Is ‘Not Email’

It’s simply a fancy address for Facebookers e.g.: yourname@facebook.com

‘Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network will be launching a revamped messaging product, ‘Messages,’ that will give users an “@facebook.com” email address.

‘Zuckerberg outlined three features that will define Facebook’s new offering, which Zuckerberg described as “the way the future should work”: Seamless messaging (users can chat with people through whatever medium they choose, be it SMS, email, or IM), conversation history (“see everything you’ve discussed with each friend as a single conversation”), and a social inbox for “filtering exactly the messages you want to see.”

“This is not an email killer,” Zuckerberg said. “This is a messaging system that includes email as one part of it.”…’ Details:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/15/facebook-email-addresses-_n_783697.html#s182605

The new social network Path which launches today limits you to only 50 friends. Visit Path and know the reason. Maybe Facebook should have done this way back.

Is your Antivirus Slowing Your PC Down?
No one escapes this problem. Here’s one solution:

‘Protecting your computer with an antivirus solution is par for the course when you’re dealing with a Windows PC, but unfortunately it slows you down at the same time. Here’s how to improve your performance, at least a little bit.

‘We’re not going to sit here and tell you to go without antivirus, since that would be irresponsible. What we’re going to do today is explain how you can exclude certain folders with write-heavy operations to speed up your PC without putting yourself into extra danger…’
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/35332/antivirus-slowing-your-pc-down-maybe-you-should-use-exclusions/

5 Steps to Fix a Faulty Internet Connection

Whether you work from home on a single PC or you manage small business networks, chances are good that, at one time or another, you’ve opened a Web browser and instead of being greeted by Google you got “Page Not Found.” Fortunately, troubleshooting a downed Internet connection isn’t as intimidating or as complicated as it seems.
http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/tech-thoughts-daily-net-news-november-12-2010/?

IPv6 basics: Getting started with IPv6

Like it or lump it, you’re going to need to add IPv6 to your network. Here’s how to start.
http://www.itworld.com/networking/127525/ipv6-basics-getting-started-ipv6?page=0%2C0&source=ITWNLE_nlt_today_2010-11-15