New “Meltdown” and “Spectre” Malware Threat That Can Affect Your Practice
Overview:
- Every computer and phone in your practice is vulnerable
- Follow our “7 Steps to Cyber Security” twice per month to avoid a data breach (link below)
- This costs nothing and can be delegated
- Forward these instructions to other practices, post on social media to help others, especially if they use web based PT EMR
This is a real threat. But it is really easy to protect your practice.
Someone MUST follow this work flow twice per month:
https://www.systems4pt.com/cybersecurity/
Details:
The companies listed above have issues patches to begin mitigating the malware, but you must install the updates.
Note: We are looking at weeks, if not months, of OS (operating System) updates. This is very similar to the Wannacry malware that hit in May. Hospitals and healthcare software providers were attacked, and patient data was stolen, often held for ransom, all because critical updates were not applied by the sloppy victims. The link below provides instructions on how to install OS updates, making your practice 99.9% Cyber Secure. This costs nothing and can be delegated to a computer-savvy employee.
Update every machine, twice per month. Diligence = Security.
This heightens web based PT liability:
Urgent: Some web based PT EMRs offer instant, anytime access to patient data from any computer, anywhere by any employee. Translation: Even if you are diligent and update your practice computers twice a month, any employee can instantly access your patient data from an infected computer. Anytime. Anywhere. With or without your permission. Obviously, this lack of security is unacceptable. Worse yet, the web based PT EMRs advertise anytime access as a benefit!