By Aris Medical Solutions
So… you find a flash drive and you want to be a good Samaritan and return it to its rightful owner. Great idea, right? Criminals know this and they use it against us! They want our data!
Malware and viruses can be installed on a flash drive. When you open it and find there isn’t any real information to tell you who it belongs to, so you think “nothing” happened. Malicious code can be developed to do most anything today. It can immediately take over your system or it can lay in wait. Infecting and worming it’s way into your files and creating havoc and you not even know it until it is too late.
Best practices:
- Never, EVER, insert a flash drive into your computer that you do not know where it came from.
- Never insert a flash drive that was used in a home environment, home computers have a 73% chance of having some type of malware.
- Never accept a flash drive that someone has used on their computer on a public Wi-Fi.
- If you find a flash drive, ask around, or post on a bulletin board.
- If you notice a flash drive in one of your computers that doesn’t belong there, report it to your HIPAA Security Officer immediately.
Be informed, be alert, and be diligent!
For more information on how Aris Medical Solutions can help your organization with HIPAA Compliance and Protecting your Data call 877.659.2467 or click here to contact us.
“Protecting Organizations through Partnership, Education, and Support”