By Healthcare Facilities Today

The storage capacity and portability of universal serial bus (USB) devices has made them efficient and useful tools. However, USB management in healthcare organizations can become a complicated and sensitive endeavor, according to an article on the Health IT Security website.

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) reported nearly 500 healthcare breaches that affected 500 individuals or more between 2009 and 2012. Security breaches in the last five years have accounted for billions of dollars in lost productivity, increased security measures, lost of reputation, and heavy fines. For health care organizations, regulatory compliance must be an ongoing concern. Cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated and methodical in their attacks.

Among the common problems, according to the article, are the clueless employee who is unaware of the inherent risks of using USBs, the opportunist, who stumbles across files and data to which they are not privy; the disgruntled employee or soon-to-be-ex-employee who actively looks to find ways to steal, damage, or destroy sensitive information, and the professional who can patiently penetrate a network and masquerade as an insider.

Facilities can protect themselves by:

• Creating policy

• Education

• Tracking every USB insert or remove

• Continuous monitoring.

• Disabling and alerting on unauthorized access

Read the article.