Mobile device use is on the rise and so is the number of cyberattacks. Hackers are developing more sophisticated malware targeted toward smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Here are 20 tips to help safeguard your device, yourself and others. Wi-Fi Don’t allow your device to auto-join unfamiliar networks. Always turn off Wi-Fi when you aren’t using it or don’t need it. Never send sensitive information over Wi-Fi, unless you’re absolutely sure it’s a secure network. Apps Only use apps available in your device’s official store — NEVER download from a browser. Be wary of apps from unknown developers or those with limited or bad reviews. Delete apps if they’re no longer supported by your store. Keep them updated to ensure they have the latest security. Don’t grant administrator or excessive privileges to apps unless you truly trust them. Browser Watch out for ads, giveaways and contests that seem too good to be true. Pay…

This message comes from Ballad Health’s IT team. Here’s a mock scenario in which someone is victimized by a cybercrime due to information provided on social media. George, a social engineer, or “hacker,” follows thousands of people on LinkedIn who work in healthcare, watching for opportunities to gain access to patient, organizational or financial information that can be turned into cash or used to cause harm to an organization, its team members or its patients. Carrie, an ABC Healthcare team member, posts on her LinkedIn account that her organization recently sent out an enterprise-wide team member satisfaction survey. Carrie expresses how grateful she is to work for a company that cares about its culture so much that it proactively seeks team member feedback. The Hack George sees that Carrie’s LinkedIn profile includes her cell phone number in the “About” section, and he targets Carrie with a smishing campaign, which is the text version of phishing….

For years, we’ve been warned not to share too much personal information online. Now, you can shop online for almost any product, manage your finances with online banking services and chat with friends and strangers on social media platforms. While you enjoy all the conveniences of modern technology, are you paying attention to all the ways it can be used against you? Let’s take a look at how you can protect your personal information. Guard your login credentials If cybercriminals steal your login credentials, they can access your accounts and find your personal or professional information. Follow these tips when browsing the internet: Don’t enter your login credentials unless you are certain a website or app is secure. Use unique passwords for each of your accounts. A password manager can help you keep track of all your passwords, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) can add another layer of security. Use passwords and update the security software…

Effective Jan. 13, 2023, Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) users will no longer be able to access email through the Outlook app. Instead, team members in VDI will use the “Ballad Email” icon that is located in the Start menu. Please note, this change will only affect team members working in a VDI environment; these are mostly clinical and remote users. Any team members not using VDI will continue to access their email as before. While the Outlook app will no longer function in VDI starting Jan. 13, the app icon will still be visible to anyone who has pinned it to their taskbar. It is advised that users unpin this “dead” icon from the taskbar using the following steps: Right click on the Outlook icon in the taskbar Select “Unpin from Taskbar” Users can then pin the Ballad Email icon to their taskbar if they want to keep their email readily accessible. See our list…

Email remains a popular form of communication in today’s digital world, especially in our workplaces. Unfortunately, our reliance on email has led cybercriminals to concoct new and creative ways to scam us of valuable and personal information, and one of the most commons scams involve clicking on suspicious links – otherwise known as phishing. Phishing attacks, if successful, can paralyze hospitals tasked with protecting valuable patient data. These attacks can potentially cost millions of dollars and cause patient safety issues. To ensure our health system is protected, below are a few tips to help you recognize and report a suspicious link. Hover over it One of the first steps you should take before clicking on a link is to hover over it with your mouse, WITHOUT clicking or tapping on the link. When you hover over the link, the cursor will change from a pointer to a small hand and will show the URL. From…

This message comes from Ballad Health’s IT team. Here is a mock scenario in which someone is victimized by a cybercriminal impersonating a company executive. George, a social engineer or “hacker,” knows healthcare organizations make it a standard practice to send out press releases for leadership promotions and appointments. He Googles several health systems until he finds Acme Healthcare, which recently hired Elizabeth as the new CEO for Acme’s flagship hospital. Peter works at the hospital and reports up through Elizabeth. George is preparing a “spear phishing” campaign against Acme Healthcare. Spear phishing is a type of phishing attack where hackers like George target the account of someone in authority in order to get team members working under that person to take action. The Hack George does some digging online until he finds the naming convention of Acme Health’s email addresses. He sends an email to Peter pretending to be Elizabeth after spoofing her email…

Cyber criminals know one of the best ways to rush people into making a mistake is by creating a heightened sense of urgency. And one of the easiest ways to create a sense of urgency is to take advantage of a crisis. This is why cyber criminals love it whenever there is a traumatic event with global impact. What most of us regard as a tragedy, cyber criminals view as an opportunity, such as the breakout of a war, a major natural disaster such as a volcanic explosion, and infectious disease breakouts like COVID-19. For example, during a natural disaster, they may pretend to be a charity asking for donations to save children in need. How can we protect ourselves the next time there is a big crisis or disaster, and cyber-criminals seek to exploit it? How to detect and defend against these scams The key to avoiding these scams is to be suspicious of…

Update: The Epic Feb/May 22 upgrade is complete. As a reminder, Epic will experience some downtime overnight (Tuesday night, Nov. 15, into Wednesday morning) while Ballad Health applies the February and May 22 versions. What do I need to know? The Epic upgrade will start to be applied around 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16. During this time, the Epic system will not be completely offline, but it will be placed in a Level 3 – Downtime “Read-Only” status for approximately two hours. Information cannot be entered into Epic during this downtime, and IT will send an advisory notice as soon as the upgrade is clear. Why are we doing this? These latest versions of Epic will provide improvements to Hospital Billing, Willow Ambulatory, MyChart and more. The upgrade will also assist with the future transition to Epic Hyperdrive, a web-enabled version of Epic that will streamline workflow and integrate more smoothly with other systems….

To effectively protect our health system against all cyber-related threats and trends, we must be informed about the latest tactics being used by hackers to gain access to sensitive information. A common form of manipulation is called social engineering, which is defined as the art of manipulating or deceiving you into taking action or divulging sensitive information. There are three forms of social engineering to be aware of: digital attacks, in-person attacks and mobile/phone attacks. Digital attacks These are most prevalent through phishing, a common practice where hackers go after a broad target of users with emails that look genuine but are actually intended to cause the user to click on a dangerous link. Spear phishing is another form of digital attack that targets a specific person or role at an organization. If you suspect a phishing email, click the Phish Alert button at the top of your screen to report it to IT and…

Cybercriminals love weak passwords. So, do you know what makes a password strong? Take our cyber quiz to test your knowledge. It’s only one question and we’ll even enter your name into a drawing for some Ballad Health swag. Click here to take the quiz and be entered in the prize drawing. Tips for creating a top password: Don’t use the same password for your Ballad Health account that you use for your personal accounts. Don’t share your password. Change your password when prompted. Use a password manager to securely store all your passwords instead of writing them down or saving them on your devices. To learn more about creating a strong password to protect yourself, your team and our patients, read: Keeping Your Passwords Squeaky Clean. Our cybersecurity campaign We must stay alert if we are going to protect our organization, our data, our patients and each other, and one of the best ways…

An Epic upgrade is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 16 beginning in the early hours of the morning. Here’s a quick FAQ list to tell you what you need to know. Who is affected? All Ballad Health Epic users. What is expected? On Wednesday, Nov. 16, beginning at 12:01 a.m., Epic users will experience a scheduled Epic downtime due to Ballad Health applying the February and May 22 versions of Epic. IT analysts will place a build freeze on non-emergency changes in Epic beginning Wednesday, Nov. 9, through Friday, Nov. 18, at noon. In preparation for the upgrade, the IT Clinical Informatics team will offer virtual training sessions and provide tip sheets prior to the upgrade, as applicable. The IT Clinical Informatics team will also perform facility rounding to ensure team members impacted by the upgrade are prepared for the upgrade and associated downtime. The Clinical Informatics team members will continue their rounding late Tuesday, Nov….