All posts by Tom Murphy

    Well at least that’s nCrypted Cloud’s motto. There is really very little reason these days not to encrypt your data. Long gone are the days when encryption techniques would slow down your machine, or cost an arm and a leg. Instead, encryption technology has become both fast and reliable, and will prevent you from becoming an OCR headline. What is the OCR? The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. They are the ones who police HIPAA violations, handing out fines for repeated offenders. Earlier this month, the OCR announced that it has resolved two… Read more ›

In todays landscape, with the continuum of high profile breach events and NSA revelations, it’s no surprise that IT security budgets are increasing (up 17% in 2013, with 45% of firms planning to increase even further in 2014), but what is all that extra money going towards? One of the chief complaints from Security and Risk professionals is having to wade through the mass of security companies popping up recently. Protecting company data is already no small task, but combined with not knowing which direction to turn to, sets the stage for disaster. This is why Forrester has created its… Read more ›

We at nCrypted Cloud are obviously very concerned with the revelations about the catastrophic Heartbleed OpenSSL bug earlier this week. We just want to give all our users an update as to the security status of our website, which has not been effected by the bug. If you need to check the status of your web site, you can test your vulnerability here. In the words of famous security expert Bruce Schneier, “On a scale of 1 -10, this is an 11.” Schneier says that half a million sites are vulnerable to this bug. It is of vital importance to… Read more ›

With more than 30 million individuals having been affected since 2009, healthcare data breaches are swiftly becoming one of the more costly expenses to healthcare organizations everywhere. If you would like to take a look at the highlights, just visit the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights “wall of shame”, for a list of every breach affecting more than 500 people. The current tally is just over 900. Not surprisingly, the most common cause of breaches listed on the wall is from lost or stolen unencrypted devices. According to Dan Berger, security expert at the pen… Read more ›

Since 911, Americans have born witness to the slow, but steady decline of their privacy, all in the name of safety and security. The worst was surely all of the revelations about the NSA, the latest being the fact that they really are recording all of your VoIP and phone conversations and storing them in bulk. One can only imagine what would is going to come next. So it was with a feeling of being able to breathe a bit easier that I stumbled upon Calyx.   Calyx is non-profit based out of New York, who’s mission is to “educate… Read more ›

    Imagine a world where you walk up to the front door of your house or apartment, speak into your watch and the door unlocks. You walk inside, put your coat on the rack and walk into the kitchen and say “Ok Google, it’s a little cold in here, raise the temperature to 72 please, and put the kettle on and set the oven to 375.” At that same moment your wearable device uses your heartbeat along with skin-sensing technology to determine that you are tired and a little irritated, so it starts playing your favorite relaxing piano concerto… Read more ›

For healthcare IT security professionals, the past 10 years has been characterized by both unrealistic expectations from higher up’s and frustration of not being able do enough.   No Time, Money, or People   Without being given the adequate resources, and personnel, S&R professionals have repeatedly found themselves in a position where they are unable to cultivate a mature security program, and properly safeguard sensitive health information.  “We struggled to be heard in our organizations, to implement policies and strengthen passwords. But we were often thwarted and viewed as obstacles if not threats, to patient care.”, writes Kate Borten, a… Read more ›

Take a minute and ask yourself, where would your small business be today without the cloud? Luckily for everyone, the age of USB sticks, compatibility issues, and sky high energy costs is, for the most part over. We live in an age where we strive to own fewer things that are capable of performing the most possible tasks. 2014 will continue to bring into focus the cloud-computing trend, focusing not only on larger organizations, but smaller businesses as well. Cloud Computing, what is it? According to SmartBrief Media[i], cloud computing is “the use of a network of remote Web-based servers,… Read more ›

In a recent article titled 12 Big BYOD Predictions for 2014, CIO magazine discusses how IT will “Strike Back” this year by implementing serious network and system changes to insulate them from “gaping” BYOD related risks. Encrypt Before You Sync According to Forrester, over three-quarters of business decision-makers identify mobile strategy as a moderate, high, or critical priority. And, since the vast majority of mobile users are taking advantage of cloud based, share and sync technologies, it would only make sense to emphasize the need to encrypt data on endpoints, before it hits cloud service provider data centers. Assume the Best,… Read more ›

Without fail, every time my dad can’t find his cell phone, he starts pacing up and down the hall panicked, yelling at me to “Call it!” in a thick English accent. It also doesn’t help that he is partly deaf in his right ear, and probably couldn’t find it if it was ringing 5 feet from his head. So, I inevitably find myself walking around the house trying to find his cell phone, with mine own in hand. But, since my father has been in management consulting for 26 years, like many professions in this day and age, his cell… Read more ›