Tag: Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity: Perform routine scans
December 10, 2024Brandon Potter
Q. What are vulnerability scans and how do they help me?
A. Vulnerability scanning is a lot like a routine physical at your physician’s office but intended for your IT systems. These scans use special tools to look for any security weaknesses in your network, systems and applications. By doing this regularly, you can spot potential problems early and fix them before they turn into big, and expensive, issues.
Why care about regular scans?
Regular scans help you find...
Cybersecurity: Make breaches more difficult
November 13, 2024Brandon Potter
Q. What is multi-factor authentication?
A. If you’re like one-third of Americans, you’ve gotten a lovely letter from Change Healthcare informing you of what you already know: Your health care data was part of their recent breach and is out in the wild.
Why did this happen? Andrew Witty, CEO of United Healthcare, Change’s corporate parent, revealed that the root cause of the breach was a lack of multi-factor authentication on a particular service, and that...
Cybersecurity: Have a plan
October 16, 2024Brandon Potter
Q. What is incident response planning and why is it important?
A. Incident response (IR) planning involves developing a structured approach to detect, respond to and manage cybersecurity incidents. As businesses increasingly rely on digital infrastructure, having a robust and documented plan is crucial to safeguarding an organization’s assets. A well-developed plan allows an organization to quickly identify, contain and mitigate an incident, minimizing downtime and financial losses.
In...
Cybersecurity: Improve threat resilience
September 16, 2024Brandon Potter
Q. Is cybersecurity a critical risk in the HME/DME Industry? What are some basic things we can do to protect ourselves?
A. In today's world, cybersecurity is a critical concern, especially in the home medical equipment industry. The risk of cyber threats grows exponentially as these sectors increasingly rely on digital technologies for managing operations, patient records and sensitive data. HME providers are prime targets for cyberattacks, given their essential role in our nation's...
Ryan Wood on the ‘automation race’ in cybersecurity
May 10, 2024Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WATERLOO, Iowa – Ryan Wood, VGM Group’s new chief information security officer, believes health care companies, as a general rule, need to “assume compromise” in the wake of the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
“Without knowing the specifics of the Change Healthcare cyberattack, I think we should be leaning on building our cyber program and infrastructure for resilience, rather than being focused on backup and recovery,” said Wood, a recent guest on the...
Senator on cyberattack: ‘It was only a matter of time’
March 25, 2024HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a member of the Senate Finance Committee and-chairman of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, has introduced legislation that would allow for advance and accelerated payments to health care providers in the event of a cyber incident, as long as they and their vendors meet minimum cybersecurity standards.
“I’ve been sounding the alarm about cybersecurity in the health care sector for some time,” Warner said. “It was only...
VGM names CISO
February 26, 2024HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM Group has announced Ryan Wood as its chief information security officer (CISO). Wood, who has more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and infrastructure management, most recently served as global director of IT security and systems engineering for Krause Group, which has more than 5,000 employees and multiple companies operating throughout the United States and the European Union. “I am thrilled to welcome Ryan to VGM Group,” said VGM Group CEO Jeremy...
Change Healthcare systems breached
February 23, 2024HME News Staff
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Change Healthcare, a revenue cycle management company, has experienced a cyberattack, it stated on its website.
“Once we became aware of the outside threat, in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, we took immediate action to disconnect our systems to prevent further impact. At this time, we believe the issue is specific to Change Healthcare and all other systems across UnitedHealth Group are operational.”
UnitedHealth Group...
VGM Forbin gets refresh
June 26, 2023HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM Forbin has launched a refreshed brand identity that includes a new logo, website and messaging. "I am thrilled to launch a refreshed VGM Forbin into the marketplace," said Lindy Tentinger, president of VGM Forbin. "To us, this is not just about modernizing our look and feel, but better articulating the problems we solve for our customers, as well as a renewed commitment to be a leader in our industry, driving creativity and innovation.” The refreshed brand identity,...
Be a ‘big fish’ when it comes to security protocols
December 16, 2022Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WATERLOO, Iowa – Now, more than ever, it’s important for HME providers – no matter how small – to pay close attention to cybersecurity to protect themselves and their patients, says Jesse Farris, IT director for VGM Forbin.
A breach can happen to anyone at any time. Case in point: Wright & Filippis, a large regional provider, was recently hit with a ransomware attack.
“Health care data is the most valuable data there is,” he said. “If you...