Practice Management Alert

Circulate this list of red flags to watch for.

In the article “Protect Your Practice By Keeping Up With Computer Security Updates,” you learned about the importance of staying on top of security for your office computers. But would you or your employees be able to spot the signs of a security issues if you saw them?

Help stop security issues before they go too far by watching for these signs your computer may be experiencing a security incident.

You could be experiencing a security incident if:

1. Your application’s response time slows down significantly.

2. Your passwords stop working.

3. A message pops up asking for your personal information.

4. Someone tries to coerce you into giving over your login information.

5.You notice strange files on your hard drive.

6. Your saved work is altered or missing.

7. The date or time stamp on your work files change.

8. You receive messages that you are almost out of disk space.

9. Your computer crashes several times.

10. A computer that contains PHI is stolen from your department or home.

Best practice: Use the potential physical or technical security incidents you found in your security risk assessment to better customize this list for your facility’s security needs.