Attention Business Editors:
Security Expert Prescribes Early Detection and Frequent Monitoring to Prevent Healthcare Privacy and Security Breaches

Toronto-based Informatica Security announces the extension of its privacy and security solutions to include the healthcare industry. The company’s FlexSecure Verify assessments are unique in the industry due in particular to their adherence to current standards and legislation.

Company President and Chief Security Officer, Claudiu Popa stated: “simplicity is at the core of our methodology for combating the most complex information security and privacy threats. The Verify Healthcare solution is essentially a standards-based process for protecting information at all levels and verifying the effectiveness of that protection over time.”

In effect, the FlexSecure Verify HealthCare methodology can elegantly be described in three simple steps:

1. Follow the information lifecycle
2. Track all exceptions
3. Gauge every functional area against improving baselines

“We have been conducting privacy and security engagements for the healthcare industry for many years and our vast expertise has everything to do with our successes in this field. We have at our disposal the deep knowledge necessary to help Canadian organizations in the healthcare industry through the emerging crisis of information security and privacy breaches. We see this as a continually evolving methodology and the only way to stay ahead of the changing threat. Our information risk management programs improve to match emerging threats and the changing risk landscape" said Popa.

The reality is that opportunities for breaches exist in all organizations and many are realized almost daily. Unfortunately we only hear about very few and almost never about the successes. Communicating these successes and educating patients and taxpayers is of critical importance to closing the loop on privacy protection. “The few that we do hear about are often a good way to bring awareness to the public and to the organizations themselves, which is why we help the media as often as we can” said Popa.

Hospitals and other health care facilities now store decades of personal patient information and very detailed private records. Now that everyone has a laptop, that information has the opportunity to leave the office and be compromised, with catastrophic consequences to the victims’ families and to the organization’s credibility. Canadian health organizations are where this silent, often expensive battle is fought. Mr. Popa said: “Information is alive, but it isn't intelligent. It cannot protect itself and reactive measures are not protection, they are a waste of money in the hope of containing a disaster. Adequate protection requires proper implementation of policies, certified systems, educated staff and monitored protection measures to ensure that they are not only effective, but also non-intrusive.”

To date, the healthcare industry has placed a priority on the idea that the public wants to know as little as possible, but in fact the public wants reassurance that all steps are being taken to ensure the protection of patient information, their most sensitive and valuable asset. With proper privacy and security protection such as Informatica’s FlexSecure Verify solutions, healthcare information asset protection is now a reality.

For more information on Informatica’s privacy and security programs, contact Informatica Corporation; or visit HealthcareSecurity.ca or HealthcarePrivacy.ca.