One page response for each question
1- Healthcare organizations saw an increase in security breaches.
See: UPDATE: The 10 Biggest Healthcare Data Breaches of 2020 (healthitsecurity.com)
Using this forum, describe 5-10 “best practices” that organizations should train their employees to do.
Make sure to cite any source you use, and DO NOT simply copy and paste from another website.
Make these evidence-based from multiple sources.
2- Watch a video and write about what you are taking away from it. Do you agree / disagree?
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
As a medical professor, I believe understanding healthcare security breaches is an important issue to address. The healthcare industry experiences a significant number of breaches each year, which can lead to substantial consequences for both patients and organizations. Hence, it’s necessary to train organizational employees to execute best practices for efficient security measures. In response to the question, I will provide evidence-based strategies that organizations should educate their employees in preventing a security breach. Further, I will also summarize my takeaways from the video and share my opinion on it.
1. Healthcare organizations saw an increase in security breaches. Using this forum, describe 5-10 “best practices” that organizations should train their employees to do.
Even with the best technological security in place, human error is still the most significant risk. Here are five to ten evidence-based best practices that healthcare organizations should train their employees:
a. Implement two-factor authentication: This method is crucial for all healthcare employees to ensure that the person logging into a system is authorized to access it.
b. Regular System Updates: Healthcare organizations must ensure their systems are up-to-date, and all security patches are installed.
c. Use Strong Passwords: Healthcare employees should use robust passwords containing an array of numbers, letters, and special characters. Least privilege privileges, two-step verification, and biometrics should be used to strengthen authentication further.
d. Data encryption: Any sensitive patient data should be encrypted to prevent any unauthorized access.
e. Conduct awareness training: Healthcare organizations should invest in educating their employees in cybersecurity and safety measures. These training programs should teach them to identify malicious activities, such as phishing scams, social engineering schemes, and spear-phishing – all of which can compromise the organization’s network.
f. Security Drills: Regular security drills should be carried out to avoid a potential cybersecurity breach.
g. Network access control: Limiting network access helps protect data infrastructure and applications. Ensure the segmentation between the individual network components.
h. Data backups: Creating data backups is necessary in case of a data breach or cyber attack.
i. Regular threat vulnerability assessments: Regular vulnerability scanning aids in identifying, prioritizing, and resolving security weaknesses in IT systems or applications proactively.
j. Develop an incident response plan: It’s essential to have an efficient incident response plan in place to ensure timely identification, investigation, and resolution of a breach.
2. Watch a video and write about what you are taking away from it. Do you agree / disagree?
I watched a video titled The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin, a cognitive psychologist at McGill University. The video discussed how to keep our brain organized, our cognitive function stays efficient, and our mind becomes capable of prioritizing tasks.
In the video, Levitin insists that human brains are not designed for multitasking – this idea of doing more than one thing at once is a fallacy. The process of multitasking creates ‘cognitive overload’ and can cause mistakes to happen. Hence, it’s better to work on tasks one at a time, rather than attempting several at once.
Further, Levitin talks about the benefits of separating our work life from our personal life. By creating a physical or symbolic barrier, such as closing the door to an office or putting aside electronic devices, our brain can understand when it is “work time” versus “personal time.” Carrying unrelated work matters at home can create added stress and reduce our cognitive capabilities.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the video; each point Levitin mentioned resonated with me. As an advocate for efficiency and productivity, I hold similar views. I am a strong believer in doing one thing at a time, removing unnecessary distractions and cultivating environments that promote better cognitive function. In conclusion, I agree with the ideas expressed by Daniel Levitin in the video.