Veterinary clinics gather information not only about the health, history, and treatments of their patients, but also various types of personal data about their clients, the animal’s owners. If hacked, clinics which lack cyber security protection may find that not only has their business been jeopardized, but their clients’ information has been put at risk, also.

Types of Veterinary Practice Information

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), information considered as protected data which should be safeguarded includes personally identifying information and billing information. While HIPAA does not specifically apply to animals, veterinary clinics should have similar security measures in place to protect the confidential information of their practice and their clients.
Clinic collected material that should be protected includes the following types of client information:

• Full names
• Addresses
• Phone information
• Spending practices
• Billing information

Veterinary practices need to be proactive in their efforts to protect their clients’ confidentiality, and one way to achieve this security is through the use of data encryption.

Data Encryption

The primary purpose of encryption is to ensure data confidentiality by protecting digital data:

• Stored on computer systems
• Transmitted over the Internet
• Transferred through computer networks

Encryption:

• Works by converting the electronic data into ciphertext which:
• Is unreadable if being looked at by an unauthorized party
• Will remain unreadable without the proper electronic tools to decipher
• Will protect data from being viewed or from being accessed through theft or loss when implemented properly.

Encryption provides security through:

• Authentication
• Allows verification of the origin of the message
• Integrity
• Confirms that the message contents were not changed
• Non-repudiation
• Identifies the sender of the message

Encryption and Practice Management Software

For Practice Management Software (PMS) to be able to use data encryption, PMS has to be coded appropriately. For example, Microsoft’s standards will be different from Apple’s, and both will be different from Linux. Since encryption standards can be different, the standardization has to be agreed upon across the different operating systems. In order to do this, each operating system has programs that are able to read different types of encryption.

Features Utilizing Encryption Security

• Boot disk encryption
• Used with mobile computer systems such as laptops
• Requires the decipher key to start the operating system and access storage
• Email encryption
• Encrypts and sends messages and attachments in a form that is transparent to the user
• External Devices Encryption
• Hard drives, CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives can be encrypted
• Once on these external devices, data is secure
• File Encryption
• Individual or multiple files
• Once encrypted, can be stored and transmitted securely
• Folder Encryption
• Data in folders can be encrypted, stored, and transmitted securely
• Full Disk Encryption
• Encrypts all data on a system: all files, folders, and the operating system
• Used when the physical security of the system can’t be guaranteed
• Mobile Device Encryption
• Mobile device encryption has slowly become more standardized, but they still utilize multiple types of encryptions
• While these devices make accessibility to files and email easier, not having a standardized encryption across all devices could render the information useless when trying to retrieve data.

Protecting a practice’s online information is important. Even though there are no established federal laws that administer veterinary practices regarding cyber security, each individual state is governed by its own board of veterinary medicine. Additional information, educational resources, and guides may be obtained through the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Want to learn about additional ways to keep your practice safe? Contact your Covetrus  representative at at 855.724.3461.

Source:
http://www.it.northwestern.edu/policies/dataencryption.html

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