Real 2 Net Media: Health Net

Techie Times

Hold on to your BREECHES!
Tuesday August 23, 2011

With all of these security issues everyone has been reading about, it makes you wonder, just how much of your information may have been compromised without you even knowing? Is there some stray data of yours out there that might have your name and social security number on it, just waiting for some opportunist to come along and use it to their advantage? What if some of your sensitive medical information has been put on a server and accessed by strangers without your consent or knowledge?

Until recently, 300,000 thousand US citizens were completely exposed in the state of California as their medical files sat unsecured on the Internet for the entire world to see. The information included insurance forms, Social Security numbers, doctors' notes and details about their various injuries and health problems. Joel Heht, the owner of Southern California Medical-Legal Consultans which represents doctors and hospitals seeking payments from patient receiving workers' compensation, refuses to comment and has apparently not contacted the patients whose information has been breached, in spite of the law that requires him to do so.

YIKES! And you thought your information was supposed to be safe guarded, but apparently there are companies out there that seem to still have some difficulty with what the word "secure" truly means.

They say moving to electronic records can lower costs, cut bureaucracy and ultimately save lives. The government is even offering bonuses to companies who hop aboard this lofty train of supposed "secure data" form and imposing penalties and cuts in payments to medical providers who refuse to change. But once that data has left their server to be transferred to someone else, they are unable to guarantee it's security anymore. To give you an idea of how this can put you at risk, health records can potentially be used by insurance companies to inflate rates, or by employers to deny job applicants, much like your public data on Facebook. However, this information can also be used for more nefarious purposes such as for blackmail and public humiliation.

And here you thought you're medical information was safe! But with the increasing amount of interconnected networks for the health industry passing around your records with more ease and speed, the risk of a data breech goes up. Dozens of companies may at any point in time be authorized to handle a single person's medical records, however, the further you get away from the original health care provider who performed your services and created the record, the less likely it is that security enforcement mechanisms for ensuring the data are protected will be in place to safeguard that information. Although in most cases it would require an actual network break in by a hacker or a theft of computer equipment, this particular breech occurs due to a simple case of someone mishandling the information and putting you at risk out of negligence.

We keep hearing about data breeches lately, with the Sony issues and the ever famous LulzSec and Anonymous group hacking into systems such as the IMF and the U.S. Senate. But this year alone, the data of 1.9 million Health Net insurance customers disappeared from an office due to a theft. The files contained information such as financial status, health history, and Social Security numbers. California state regulators recently launched an investigation into Health Net's security procedure. Health Net refused to comment regarding this issue stating that the matter is still under investigation.

So how do you know if our information has been compromised when there are data leaks like this occurring all over? The frightening facts of this situation is that you don't know unless you have been notified, and the only way to find out on your own is to do a regular internet search on yourself and your personal information to see if anything is exposed. But if you do find something, it's reasonable to assume that others may have seen the information before you, and they can use this information at any time.

I have been the victim of Identity Theft in the recent years (twice actually) and it takes many hours just to monitor your own information and correct the damage that has been done. So if you have a full time job and a family to spend time with, taking the time to do this might not be possible, and the people who wish to use your information are counting on that! IF they have used ID with your name on it while making a purchase with your debit or bank card, you may not even be compensated for the funds that were taken from your account. The reasoning behind this decision is that because your ID card was used, they assume the purchaser was indeed you, and therefore they will not refund you the money that was taken out of your account because they believe you were the one making the purchases.

Some new bank cards have a radio frequency identification chip that allows "skimmers" to scan the information stored on the card's magnetic strip using a small hand held device as hey simply walk by you. The stolen information is used to make a copy of your bank card and it is then used to make purchases.

I know it seems a grim outlook on our immediate future, with all of these crooks running around with equipment that can steal your information with the swipe of a hand, and medical facilities not guarding your information as well as they should, but the up side of this is that you have control over everything. Yes, it does take time, but you can do it!

Here are some helpful tips for you to take back control of your Identity and protect yourself and your family from any future fraud attempts:

BOOKS:

Identity Theft, Inc.: A Wild Ride with the World's #1 Identity Thief

Stopping Identity Theft: 10 Easy Steps to Security

The Official Identity Theft Prevention Handbook: Everyone's Identity Has Already Been Stolen - Learn What You Can Do About It

Identity Theft For Dummies

LINKS:

How safe is your financial information?

8 mistakes that expose you to online fraud

10 things you should know about identity theft

18 ways to foil credit card thieves