NOTE: This message was emailed on Thursday afternoon, April 7, from Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health, to all team members:
I have directed that our Information Technology department implement a forced password change for ALL Ballad Health email system users. At some point shortly, you will be required to change your password or you will be unable to access the system.
There has been an increase in cases of attempts to access our email system, which can only be interpreted to mean there is increased risk of our systems being compromised.
THIS IS VERY SERIOUS.
Effective today (Thursday, April 7, 2022), it is Ballad Health policy that your Ballad Health password, for any Ballad health application, may not be similar to, or identical to, any of your personal passwords for any of your personal devices or emails. While Ballad Health cannot require you to disclose your personal email passwords to us, and we will not ask you to do so, please know that if your Ballad Health account is breached, it will result in an investigation as to the cause of the breach. If it is then determined that the breach resulted from passwords which are similar in nature to your personal accounts, this would be a serious violation of our policy and would result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Because hacking of your personal accounts is a significant risk, if a hacker were to succeed in accessing your personal account, one of the first things they will do is attempt to use your password, or similar variations of it, to access your work accounts once they determine where you work. If your personal passwords are similar to your Ballad Health password, you would be exposing our patients to great risk. This cannot be permitted, and we are very serious about this policy.
I am sorry for the serious tone of this email, but we have elevated risk, and we cannot take any chances when it comes to the privacy of our patients, or the security of our technology.
Thank you for understanding, and for your compliance.
Alan
Alan Levine
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ballad Health
