By Laura Swanson, Tillamook County Pioneer
According to information security specialist Jeremy Saldate, president of Harmonium LLC, the recent security breach at Tillamook Chiropractic should be a message to other medical practices and businesses about, “Maintaining diligent vigilance when it comes to information security. People here are lulled into a false sense of security, because it’s a small town, it won’t happen here.” But in reality, rural areas are more vulnerable to international cyber security breaches. “When I inquire about businesses cyber-security, I often hear, ‘I have IT people’. Those are the people that keep systems running; information security people – securing information and network security – breaches, malware, that’s different,” Saldate explains. He continued, “I ask key questions – do you have for last 12 months a penetration test report on your network? Have you done due diligence to protect patients’ health or customer information? Just the paperwork or a network security audit?” Businesses and medical practices interested in learning more about Harmonium’s network security audit and other services, can contact Jeremy Saldate at 503-207-6400 or email to sales @ harmoniumllc.com
The same message should now be loud and clear to the general public as well – with recent national security issues with Facebook and regionally, Burgerville. Now hitting close to home with over 4,000 records. What can you do to protect yourself?
Again – due diligence … Here are some tips from Saldate’s company, Harmonium LLC:
Make sure software and firmware security updates are installed regularly on every machine on your network- including computers, printers, tablets and smartphones.
• Backup all systems regularly to a set of removable disks.
• Use unique, lengthy, complex passwords/passphrases on every website or user account. Do not share passwords between websites. Use a password as long as the account will allow.
• Use a password manager, such as 1Password or Dashlane, to store your passwords.
• Use two-factor authentication everywhere it is available. However, not all forms of two-factor authentication are created equal.
• Upgrade your antivirus to include a more modern detection system, such as Cylance Home.
• Install ad blockers on all web browsers.
If you’ve been affected by the Tillamook Chiropractic Clinic breach:
• Monitor your credit report. Obtain & review a copy of your credit report at least annually.
• Monitor your bank accounts closely. Any instances of fraud should be reported to your bank within two days of each monthly statement.
• If you believe an incident of fraud or identity theft has occurred, you can work with credit grantors to close fraudulent accounts, place a freeze on your credit file with each of the three major credit agencies, and report the incident to local law enforcement or the FBI at: www.ic3.gov.
• Experian can be reached at: 1 (888) 397-3742 or http://www.experian.com/ consumer-information/cis-contact-business.html
• Equifax can be reached at: 1 (800) 727-8495 or https://www.equifax.com/ personal/contact-us/
• TransUnion can be reached at: 1 (800) 813-5604 or https://www.transunion.com/ customer-support/contact-us-consumers
• You can also notify the Federal Trade Commission by following the steps outlined at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ or call 1877-ID-THEFT (438-4338).
• If you would like additional resources relating to protecting yourself from identity theft, you can visit Oregon’s Consumer Protection website located at https:// www.doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection/id-theft-data-breaches/identity-theft/.