Kris Cears has been with Applied Tech since 2002 and has over 17 years in the IT industry. For many years he provided direct support for customers, along with implementing infrastructure projects. He then served as Director of Technical services and oversaw the delivery of Managed Services and Infrastructure Professional Services. He has recently started to focus on improving security both internally at Applied Tech and for our customers. He is certified in many technologies such as Microsoft Server, VMware, and HP ProCurve Networking.
Now a Chief Technology Officer at Applied Tech, security and compliance rank highest on his radar for 2018. Last week, Kris attended the HIPAA COW spring event in Pewaukee where healthcare, privacy, and technology experts get together to discuss current trends and news in HIPAA regulated industries. He had some great takeaways that we feel all of our regulated clients should be aware of and work towards.
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication: With phishing campaigns and social engineering on the rise, it’s very likely someone in your organization will have their credentials compromised. MFA can significantly limit the impact and alert you of failed MFA prompts to provide awareness of the compromised credentials.
- Have an annual IT Risk Assessment: The assessment should cover Administrative, Physical, and Technical controls. Use the reports to develop an action plan and budget to fix the gaps that exist in your IT environment.
- Implement a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool: For most organizations, it’s not a matter of if your network is going to be compromised, it’s a matter of when. A properly implemented SIEM tool can help detect security incidents much more quickly, and provide a forensic audit trail of what activity occurred during the incident, so you are not left guessing.
For more information on how to stay compliant check out this blog!
