Category "Compliance"

PCI compliance or payment-card industry compliance involves adhering to a set of specific security standards. It is required by all card brands and applies to all companies (no matter the size) that accept credit card payments. These standards were developed in order to protect card information for a financial transaction during and after it. To follow PCI, involves six direct requirements.

1. They must protect cardholder data. Protecting this data usually involves encrypting transmissions of cardholder data across public networks and taking initiative to protect any stored data for customers.

2. Building and maintaining a secure network is a vital requirement for PCI. To do this a business must install and maintain a firewall configuration. This protects customer data. They must also attend to smaller security details such as not using the default passwords for systems and changing their passwords often.

3. Another PCI requirement is to sustain a vulnerability management program. There are many options available for anti-virus software and a variety of choices for secure applications. A business must actively work to keep these elements in check.

4. Maintaining an information security policy will help a business keep their security in check. They should always hold themselves against this policy and it’s standards.

5. A company should always be regularly monitoring and testing its networks. This involves not only the networks themselves, but the security systems and processes involved as well.  Access to cardholder data should always be closely watched.

6. Implementing strong access and control measures is an important facet of PCI. Cardholder information should be held on a need-to-know basis, the less people that have access the better. Each person with access should have a unique ID.

WHOA.com has a cloud-based infrastructure and is able to consult and help you handle PCI requirements with ease. Contact them today to find out more.

There’s only one thing worse than a serious HIPAA breach: having one and not providing the required notifications.

Entities covered by HIPAA, as well as their business associates, may need to report breaches. If an event compromises the privacy or security of protected health information which a covered entity holds, that constitutes a breach. The presumption is that an improper disclosure or use of PHI constitutes a breach, unless a risk assessment shows that the likelihood of compromised information is low. For instance, if printed records sent out for secure disposal fall off the truck, that counts as a breach unless all the records are recovered before anyone else can get to them.

If a breach does occur, a covered entity has to provide notifications without unreasonable delay (60 days at most) to:

• The Secretary of Health and Human Services. A reporting form for this purpose is available online.
• Individuals affected by the breach. The notice can go out by regular mail, or by email if the people affected have agreed to receive notices that way. If it isn’t possible to reach all affected people by mail or email, a public notice is required.
• The news media, if the breach affects more than 500 residents of a state or jurisdiction.

It’s a legal requirement to document all notifications sent out. If an event falls short of being a breach, the assessment supporting that conclusion has to be documented.

It’s embarrassing to let people know that their confidential medical data may have gotten into the wrong hands, but it gives them a chance to protect themselves from identity theft, and embarrassment is better than the penalties the Office of Civil Rights can assess.

Best of all, of course, is not to have a breach in the first place. The secure cloud service from WHOA.com provides strong security, complying with all HIPAA and HITECH requirements. Contact us to learn more about our service.