Our blogs have covered the importance of keeping hardware and software secure. That can be more difficult for mobile devices when they are constantly leaving an organization’s environment. Encrypting hardware like laptops and tablets is vastly important in the case of that equipment being lost or stolen.
A few months ago, an organization settled with the OCR for over 1 million dollars over a stolen unencrypted laptop. During the OCR investigation, it was found that this organization had a lack of device and media controls and did not have a BA agreement in place. The single laptop affected 20,431 patients! This will be a major hit on this organization’s reputation, budget and time! The organization agreed to a “corrective action plan”, along with settlement amount, which will have to be reported on annually.
The issues listed in the OCR’s investigation could have been avoided. Encrypting laptops can range in cost and labor. Some methods can be labor intensive and less costly and others may cost more but don’t require as much time. Either way, any solution is important to put everyone’s mind at ease and stay protected!
So here is the million-dollar question: What mobile devices have your organization’s data and is it protected or encrypted?
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