Privacy, Security and Identity theft
Who has access to the information others hold?
by Cheryl Baumgartner Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Cheryl Baumgartner 
Medical...
Let's talk a bit about information security. We don't think about this subject enough. It is at best an after thought for most business owners. We worry about everything but information security when it is the one "little" thing that can ruin us. As I go through this don't think about it from the point of view of a business owner but as a customer who has entrusted a business owner with your information.
The scenario is this, your refrigerator has just died. A refrigerator is one of the things everyone has and needs so you need a new fridge. You hop in your car and drive down to your local XYZ Appliance Store. After a bit of shopping you find your replacement fridge. Now comes the the part where you give out some sensitive information. You sit down with the salesclerk and discuss payment. You decide to put it on your credit card, You also need to have it delivered. You have just given that clerk not only your personally identifying information such as your name and address, but also your credit card information.
You leave the store and head home and probably don't think a thing about it. You just made a purchase, something that happens everyday. However let's look at what happens to that information shall we?
When you left the store you had in your possession your copy of the receipt or purchase order. On that receipt is all of the information you gave to the clerk. That receipt now goes to the warehouse. Depending on the size of the store it could be in house or at a centralized location, either way that clerk gives the receipt with your information to a courier for delivery. Once it is at the warehouse, you have the person who locates your refrigerator and "marks" it in some way (often it's by attaching a copy of the receipt to the item in some manner).
The next step is the actual delivery. Early in the morning of your scheduled delivery, the warehouse crew loads the delivery truck. The driver gets a stack of receipts that correspond to his deliveries (You do have to sign for it when it gets there). It makes no sense to keep running back and forth to the warehouse so they load the entire day's deliveries including your fridge. And off they go for the day. Stop number one is a washer and dryer set at the home of Joe Blow. At Mr Blow's home they take the appliances in and hook them up they also have that clipboard with the receipts from the day's deliveries.
The next stop is to deliver your fridge. You sign for it and get it hooked up in your kitchen turn it on and sit down to plan out your trip to the grocery store later that evening.
The last stop for the morning is at the residence of Mrs Ima Crook, who has purchased a brand new wall mounted HDTV. Again the merchandise and clipboard come into the house. The clipboard gets placed on the counter while they install the TV. While they are busy installing the TV Mrs Crook is busy copying the information from the previous deliveries. Once her TV is installed she signs for her delivery and the crew heads off for their lunch break never realizing that information has been stolen from them.
Mr Blow paid cash for his washer/dryer but she still has his name address and phone number. You paid with a credit card and she now has your name address and credit card information. Mrs Crook now has what she needs to steal two more identities and no one is the wiser.
The crew certainly weren't thinking that this nice lady was stealing information while their backs were turned. You and Mr Blow certainly weren't thinking that someone would steal your information from a delivery driver and the business didn't think about it either.
A bit of security awareness could have prevented this from happening. The drivers could have only taken in the paperwork the corresponded to the delivery and left the rest of the paperwork locked out of sight in the truck. The business could have used a special coded delivery receipt with the code corresponding to your purchase order and the only thing Mrs Crook would have had access to was a signature and a code that was worthless unless you had access to the original purchase order.
Businesses must begin to think about when and where others have access to information.
Apr 5th 2008 08:58
Medical...Let's talk a bit about information security. We don't think about this subject enough. It is at best an after thought for most business owners. We worry about everything but information security when it is the one "little" thing that can ruin us. As I go through this don't think about it from the point of view of a business owner but as a customer who has entrusted a business owner with your information.
The scenario is this, your refrigerator has just died. A refrigerator is one of the things everyone has and needs so you need a new fridge. You hop in your car and drive down to your local XYZ Appliance Store. After a bit of shopping you find your replacement fridge. Now comes the the part where you give out some sensitive information. You sit down with the salesclerk and discuss payment. You decide to put it on your credit card, You also need to have it delivered. You have just given that clerk not only your personally identifying information such as your name and address, but also your credit card information.
You leave the store and head home and probably don't think a thing about it. You just made a purchase, something that happens everyday. However let's look at what happens to that information shall we?
When you left the store you had in your possession your copy of the receipt or purchase order. On that receipt is all of the information you gave to the clerk. That receipt now goes to the warehouse. Depending on the size of the store it could be in house or at a centralized location, either way that clerk gives the receipt with your information to a courier for delivery. Once it is at the warehouse, you have the person who locates your refrigerator and "marks" it in some way (often it's by attaching a copy of the receipt to the item in some manner).
The next step is the actual delivery. Early in the morning of your scheduled delivery, the warehouse crew loads the delivery truck. The driver gets a stack of receipts that correspond to his deliveries (You do have to sign for it when it gets there). It makes no sense to keep running back and forth to the warehouse so they load the entire day's deliveries including your fridge. And off they go for the day. Stop number one is a washer and dryer set at the home of Joe Blow. At Mr Blow's home they take the appliances in and hook them up they also have that clipboard with the receipts from the day's deliveries.
The next stop is to deliver your fridge. You sign for it and get it hooked up in your kitchen turn it on and sit down to plan out your trip to the grocery store later that evening.
The last stop for the morning is at the residence of Mrs Ima Crook, who has purchased a brand new wall mounted HDTV. Again the merchandise and clipboard come into the house. The clipboard gets placed on the counter while they install the TV. While they are busy installing the TV Mrs Crook is busy copying the information from the previous deliveries. Once her TV is installed she signs for her delivery and the crew heads off for their lunch break never realizing that information has been stolen from them.
Mr Blow paid cash for his washer/dryer but she still has his name address and phone number. You paid with a credit card and she now has your name address and credit card information. Mrs Crook now has what she needs to steal two more identities and no one is the wiser.
The crew certainly weren't thinking that this nice lady was stealing information while their backs were turned. You and Mr Blow certainly weren't thinking that someone would steal your information from a delivery driver and the business didn't think about it either.
A bit of security awareness could have prevented this from happening. The drivers could have only taken in the paperwork the corresponded to the delivery and left the rest of the paperwork locked out of sight in the truck. The business could have used a special coded delivery receipt with the code corresponding to your purchase order and the only thing Mrs Crook would have had access to was a signature and a code that was worthless unless you had access to the original purchase order.
Businesses must begin to think about when and where others have access to information.
Apr 5th 2008 08:58
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