Kroll Cyber Security Blog – A Dialogue on Data Security

Considering the exposure it’s gotten in mainstream news sources recently, it’s highly likely you’ve seen some fairly ominous headlines recently proclaiming that, on July 9, 2012, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will lose their access to the Internet. Are you one of them? How do you know?

Before you answer those questions, you first need to understand why some 560,000+ Internet users around the world will be knocked offline.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed two cyber security bills. The Federal Information Security Amendments Act of 2012 (HR 4257) modifies the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) by providing for, among other things, automated security monitoring of government information systems. It also requires federal agencies to implement adequate information security programs, including appointing a CISO or other top official to oversee information security and enforce compliance.

Today marks the release of the third installment of the 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data, commissioned by the information security practice of Kroll Advisory Solutions.  The bi-annual survey (previously released in 2008 and 2010) examines survey data from U.S. healthcare industry professionals on the state of patient data security, and provides key insight into the effect and effectiveness of regulatory changes and the industry’s resulting compliance efforts. The 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data, examines results longitudinally from the 2008 and 2010 studies as compared to 2012, and presents results from questions that are new to this year’s survey.

In April, Kroll will be releasing its 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data. This is the third in a series of biannual studies that examine the patient data security practices at hospitals across the U.S. While this has always been a popular and highly regarded report, this year’s installment promises to provide even deeper insight, as we’ll be examining results longitudinally from previous surveys as compared to 2012, as well as presenting results from new questions in this year’s survey. We urge everyone to register on Kroll’s website to receive the report.

When the Federal Trade Commission released its 2011 Consumer Sentinel statistics (self-reported consumer complaints to the FTC) in February, it revealed that once again, identity theft was the number one complaint. More specifically, 24 percent of the identity theft complaints filed with the FTC in 2011 fell into the category of Tax or Wage related Fraud. This represents an 8.5 percent increase from 2010. There is no question that tax-related identity theft is a big problem, and in fact it is very common for consumers to find out they are identity theft victims during tax season.