Our world is quite different from the one a few years back. More and more I hear about smart appliances that you can interact with them even if you are not home. I also hear about applications that can track our locations and even how digital photos create security risks and vulnerabilities.
We even have voice-activated devices that are listening and interacting with us on a daily basis. One of the problems with these devices is that they are live all the time. In other words, they work as an open mike waiting for keywords to take action. The second problem is that they don’t have a password and login so anyone within reach can activate the same.
For example, a Michigan Mom (Veronica Estell) posted a video on Facebook where she confronts her two children after spending $700 on toys using Alexa and her credit card. In the video, Ms. Estell goes as far as accusing her kids of fraud and “taking them to jail for credit card fraud”.
This is kind of funny and if she were to change the setting you could say that Ms. Estell was the Security Officer investigating a Security Incident. Where she failed on was in terms of not having a sanction policy in place so the kids would have known ahead of time the “penalties/sanctions” they would face if they did something inappropriate.
As presented by the example above, we are getting used to the convenience of technology and have failed to consider the risks that they present to us and our loved ones. Let’s be honest, at this point in time there are too many things for us to keep track of that at any time can compromise our security.
The way I see it, the answer to our situation may rest in understanding HIPAA Security and how the same applies to us not only at work but as part of our daily lives. All I’m saying is that it may be worth your time to look at HIPAA Security with a different set of eyes and see how the same can help you at home.
References: