Archive for the 'Cloud Computing' Category

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Additional Observations from the HIMSS12 Conference and Results from the Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey

Published on April 3, 2012 in Cloud Computing and HIPAA Compliance. Closed
Posted by Brian White

By Brian White, Director of Business Development for Layered Tech

HIMSS Health IT Conference and Exhibition As mentioned in the previous blog entry, Layered Tech recently attended the annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, the premier healthcare IT show of the year. In our last post, we recapped the main takeaways related to HIPAA, hosting and cloud computing, but there were some other aspects from the show we felt were noteworthy. Also, during the show, HIMSS released the results of its annual Leadership Survey. The findings illustrate the state of the industry, the challenges faced and the objectives that are top-of-mind for healthcare organizations.

One of the main news items from the conference was the delay in the federally mandated requirement to complete the migration to ICD-10, which has taken pressure off of healthcare providers. The final rule adopting ICD-10 as a standard was published in January 2009, and it set a compliance date of Oct. 1, 2013 – a delay of two years from the compliance date initially specified in the 2008 proposed rule. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has yet to announce a new compliance date. Although the delay was big news, many of the consulting services firms and the larger solution providers, such as Cerner, McKesson and Epic, are still heavily promoting their migration capabilites. In addition, HIMSS itself and other IT-related groups were telling their members and anyone who would listen to not slack off when it comes to ICD-10 preparedness.

HIMSS Leadership Survey Results

According to the Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey, for the first time in years, IT leaders at healthcare organizations did not identify a lack of financial support for IT as an obstacle to implementation; instead, concerns about staffing resources was cited as the key barrier to IT. The survey results, released on February 21, showed that one-quarter of respondents said adequate staffing resources within their organizations is the top barrier to IT implementation, and approximately two-thirds of respondents said their IT staff will increase in the next year. Leading areas of expertise in which survey respondents require staff include clinical decision support, network and architecture support, and clinical informatics.

As healthcare organizations move toward meeting their information technology priorities, key areas of focus, as reported by the survey’s technology leaders, are: achieving meaningful use and ICD-10; participating in health information exchanges (HIEs); addressing security concerns; and IT governance. Highlights include:

Nearly 90 percent of respondents expect to complete their ICD-10 conversion by the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline (survey results were captured before the ICD-10 delay was announced). Two-thirds of respondents also reported that implementing ICD-10 was the top area of focus for financial IT systems at their organization.

More than one-quarter of respondents have already attested to meaningful use. One-quarter of respondents also said that achieving meaningful use is the key business objective at their organization.

Almost half of respondents reported that their organization participates in an HIE. However, 22 percent of respondents said there is an HIE in their area in which they are not participating at this time.

Security continues to be a top concern for healthcare IT professionals. Approximately one-quarter of respondents indicated their organization has experienced a security breach in the past year.

IT is being successfully integrated into healthcare providers’ overarching business strategy. Half of respondents reported that the IT plan is part of the overall organizational strategic plan.

Key takeaway – Regulatory requirements are still driving healthcare IT spending. However, IT continues to be viewed as a strategic enabler of the overall healthcare provider’s business. This is leading to continued investment in personnel to address IT architecture and analysis. Areas not deemed to be core to the business are increasingly considered for outsourcing.

Healthcare IT and Hosting – Observations from the HIMSS12 Conference

Published on March 14, 2012 in Cloud Computing and HIPAA Compliance. Closed
Posted by Brian White

By Brian White, Director of Business Development for Layered Tech

HIMSS Health IT Conference and Exhibition Layered Tech recently attended the annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, the premier healthcare IT show of the year, and we wanted to share what we thought was interesting and informative in terms of trends and news related to hosting, cloud computing and compliance. The education sessions covered everything from managing mobile devices to implementing electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchanges (HIEs) and bioinformatics. In addition, the application of technology and provider/vendor collaboration to reduce costs while increasing patient care were key focus areas for the more than 37,000 attendees and 1,100-plus exhibitors.

Healthcare, HIPAA and Hosting

This year’s show continued the theme of accelerating meaningful use and delivering upon the promise of accessible EHRs. The application of cloud technologies permeated the exhibition hall, especially with many healthcare providers leveraging the cloud for EHRs, unified communications, billing, storage and imaging. In the past, there was great concern about security of information in the cloud, but the trepidation seems to be melting away as providers are successfully completing trials and engaging with production applications using cloud services.

The education sessions reflected the general tone of HIMSS12 – that healthcare organizations are recognizing both the value and the opportunity presented by outsourcing aspects of their IT environments. This is especially true when it comes to the delivery of scalable, secure and highly available environments – both infrastructure and network. By embracing HIPAA-compliant clouds or virtual private data centers, healthcare providers can transfer the tedium of managing infrastructure, the need for CapEx and the role of managing HIPAA requirements to a trusted partner. Finding that trusted partner appeared to be the focus of the attending Healthcare Providers.

The main obstacle impeding the adoption of hosted or cloud solutions in healthcare has been the perceived loss of control of and possible breach of security. But the entry of hosting service providers with expertise in HIPAA-compliant hosting now provides superior security to that delivered within on-premise environments. The value of best-in-class security wrapped around a hosted or cloud solution is becoming an irresistible catalyst rather than the deterrent for moving to cloud.

The opportunity for healthcare providers lies in their ability to better allocate resources toward delivering optimum healthcare for their patients. After all, isn’t this the promise of outsourcing? On-site IT staff can focus on deploying and maintaining clinical, patient-facing applications, architecture advancements or other more valuable areas within the health provider’s enterprise. In addition, the shift toward more predictable operating expenses helps to improve business visibility, and more optimally focused staff supported by a more predictable cost basis will help hospitals drive better business results.

The best advice I can provide for health care providers that have not ventured into the hosted or cloud space is to find an application they feel would fit well and kick the tires. This will enable the creation of the right model for the organization while minimizing risk.

Layered Tech is one of the HIPAA compliant hosting leaders delivering cloud expertise that is increasingly difficult for healthcare providers to replicate with internal IT staff. In addition, we also take on capital expense burdens and provide healthcare organizations with a predictable operating expense model.

Blog Series: Reducing Risk with PCI-Compliant and Secure Community Clouds, Part III

Published on February 13, 2012 in Cloud Computing, Hosting Industry, Infrastructure and PCI Compliance. Closed
Posted by Jeff Reich

By Jeff Reich, Chief Risk Officer, Layered Tech

In parts one and two of this blog series, we’ve examined how community clouds are viable environments for PCI compliance, and in this segment we will explore how security is instrumental in guarding against data breaches.

Make security a priority in your community cloud

Despite common misperceptions, it is no more difficult to be secure or PCI-compliant in the cloud than it is in a dedicated hosting environment. Many believe that PCI compliance alone will keep mission-critical data safe, but that is actually not the case. Almost every credit card data breach in the last five years has occurred in a PCI-compliant environment. This powerful statistic reinforces the fact that although compliance is required for success, it is “table stakes” as opposed to effectiveness. The data in your community cloud is only as protected as the amount of security you apply to it, so it is critical that businesses invest heavily in security.

This doesn’t mean that PCI compliance should be ignored. Rather, security measures should work in tandem with compliance efforts, and in all actuality, PCI compliance should be considered as a subset of security. Keeping that in mind, organizations must make risk-based decisions that embrace compliance while also addressing practicalities and technical capabilities in order to establish a secure community cloud.

In addition to assessing the practicalities of achieving compliance, organizations must acknowledge that compliance is maintained by viewing it as a necessary, daily process, not as an annual project that must be completed to pass an audit or test. Doing so will defeat the purpose of attaining compliance in the first place, and it will open up your business to a variety of security threats. To “raise the bar” beyond simply establishing compliance, companies should consider several security components, including social engineering, patching, system interfaces and the scope of administration rights, as well as routinely identify system vulnerabilities to ensure a fully secure environment. Some of these components can be addressed with automated security checks, while others require human interaction, which is why good security is part art and part science.

Security and compliance are no more difficult in the community cloud

The security concepts mentioned above are vital elements that help determine whether a company chooses to leverage the community cloud or a different hosting environment. Despite common misperceptions, it is no more difficult to be secure or PCI-compliant in the cloud than it is in a dedicated hosting environment. The essence of any security plan is in taking the necessary precautions to make sure that data is kept under strict control. The 2011 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report states that the cloud does not really factor into many of the breaches they investigate because they have yet to encounter a breach involving a successful exploit of a hypervisor allowing an attacker to jump across VMs.

In terms of PCI compliant hosting, not all cloud providers are created equal. Some hosting providers offer cloud environments with all the tools needed to secure a company’s data but leave the management of incident response to the customer. This opens the door for important security measures, precautions and standards to go unnoticed or overlooked, increasing the risk of a security breach. To avoid this danger, businesses should confirm that their third-party cloud vendor will go beyond simply ensuring PCI compliance by conducting regular checks to safeguard critical data.

Layered Tech handles all of the IT controls (about 80 percent of the total criteria) associated with PCI compliance, and our dedicated security experts know how to achieve the utmost security for any environment. By working with an established, global provider of compliant managed hosting services like Layered Tech, companies can offload complex compliance requirements, avoid potential risks associated with non-compliance and most important, focus on their business rather than their cloud infrastructure. To learn more about Layered Tech’s services, please visit our website or send us an email.

About the Author: As Chief Risk Officer at Layered Tech, Jeff Reich (@LayeredTechCRO, +Jeff Reich) drives the company’s security and compliance services and guides risk mitigation efforts for clients. With more than 30 years of experience, Reich is a well-known risk management and security expert in the industry. He holds CRISC, CISSP and CHS-III certifications and is an ISSA Distinguished Fellow.

Blog Series: Reducing Risk with PCI-Compliant and Secure Community Clouds, Part II

Published on January 26, 2012 in Cloud Computing, Hosting Industry, Infrastructure and PCI Compliance. Closed
Posted by Jeff Reich

By Jeff Reich, Chief Risk Officer, Layered Tech

In the first installment of this series, we looked at the magnitude in which companies are experiencing security data breaches and how PCI compliance can help businesses overcome these issues. In this installment, we’ll examine how community clouds are emerging as an alternative environment for companies looking to achieve PCI compliance and robust security while also reaping benefits including reduced overhead.

The 1, 2, 3’s of securing data and achieving PCI compliance

the 1, 2, 3s of securing data and achieving PCI compliance Many technology security experts agree that securing company and customer data involves three steps: 1) identifying which data is critical and therefore needs to remain secure; 2) implementing the controls needed to protect that data; and 3) validating those controls. As simple as this may seem, one misstep can result in not achieving PCI compliance, opening the door for highly damaging data breaches to occur. For example, Verizon stated in its 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report that of the 761 data breaches it examined, more than 95 percent could have been avoided through simple controls.

By contracting with a PCI-compliant managed services provider, companies are able to put their security concerns in the hands of experts who stay up-to-date on security requirements and ensure that PCI compliance is maintained. Managed hosting providers like Layered Tech make certain that regular monitoring occurs, audits run smoothly and all data is as safe as possible, allowing companies to focus resources on their businesses and customers.

Community clouds as an alternative

Community clouds are becoming a popular hosting environment option because they offer many advantages, including lower costs and more flexibility. By utilizing community clouds, companies avoid expensive upfront hardware costs and don’t have to worry about the additional expenditures associated with hardware updates and maintenance. In addition, companies with fluctuating data requirements can easily increase or decrease the services they receive and only pay for services used at any given time.

Community clouds also provide companies with “hidden” benefits. For instance, if a cloud provider notices targeted malicious activity against one company, it can take actions to prevent the attack or similar attacks from affecting other companies. Experienced cloud providers will place businesses with similar security needs and services on the same server to use the same pool of resources.

A hosting provider’s experience and expertise in the community cloud should be an important factor when selecting a vendor. Layered Tech pioneered virtualized and PCI-compliant environments and has years of accumulated experience in designing, implementing and hosting in the cloud. To learn more about Layered Tech’s services, check out the compliant hosting and cloud hosting information on our website or send us an email.

In the final installment of this blog series, we will explore security in the community cloud and explain the importance of security and how PCI compliance doesn’t necessarily ensure that data is secure.

Image credit: Kirsty Hall

Blog Series: Reducing Risk with PCI-Compliant and Secure Community Clouds

Published on January 4, 2012 in Cloud Computing, Hosting Industry, Infrastructure, Layered Technologies, PCI Compliance, Security and Tech Tips. Closed
Posted by Jeff Reich

By Jeff Reich, Chief Risk Officer, Layered Tech

It seems almost daily a new report emerges detailing how a company suffered a data security breach, resulting in the release of sensitive data for hundreds of people. To help guard against these attacks, companies can become PCI compliant, but it is not an easy goal to achieve and does not guarantee complete and total security. As an alternative, community clouds provided through third-party resources like Layered Tech offer security options and a path to compliance without the cost and labor issues present with in-house systems.

To better understand these issues, this blog series will explore the hazards data breaches present and how, even with its challenges, PCI compliance and added security can help protect companies. Additionally, the series will discuss how leveraging a community cloud provides companies with added benefits, such as scalable infrastructure, flexibility and availability, all in a cost-effective manner.

The real risk hackers pose

PCI compliance can help protect data from hackers, but there are still challenges. In today’s business environment, data breaches are no longer disasters that happen to other companies, nor are they an issue that only plagues large enterprises. These adverse events can affect small- and medium-sized businesses that have made the leap to computerized systems and digital records.

Hackers are becoming more sophisticated and are able to employ several different tactics to retrieve information, such as exploiting backdoors and using spyware, forcing companies to focus on every aspect of security. Instead of just looking for credit card and social security numbers or personal data, such as birthdates, hackers are increasingly stealing online banking login details. According to Verizon’s 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report, the U.S. Secret Service arrested more than 1,200 cybercrime suspects in 2010 that were connected to more than $500 million in fraud loss.

PCI compliance helps but includes challenges

All companies that accept credit card payments, either online or offline, are required to takes steps to secure customer information. One way companies can accomplish this task is to become PCI compliant, meaning that the organization meets certain criteria throughout the security process, including prevention, detection and response, as set forth by the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). These standards, developed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, provide a range of requirements based on a company’s size, its type of business and the number of credit card transactions it handles. (Want to know more about PCI DSS? See the helpful PCI DSS resources available on our website.)

The strictness of these requirements, however, can make it difficult for businesses to achieve compliance. Verizon’s Payment Card Industry Compliance Report for 2011 states that only 21 percent of the companies assessed were considered fully compliant. Additionally, even though PCI-compliant companies are safer and less likely to encounter a breach, PCI compliance does not guarantee complete security of data. Additional security measures, including but not limited to patching and system interfaces, must be taken.

Many companies leverage PCI compliant hosting and managed services from providers like Layered Tech to take advantage of its security, compliance and cloud expertise. With this approach, organizations gain all the benefits of a hosted IT infrastructure but without the headaches of owning and maintaining hardware. In addition, you can dedicate your resources to what matters most: your business and your customers. To learn more about Layered Tech’s services, please visit our website or send us an email.

In the second installment of this blog series, we will discuss PCI compliance and security in community clouds and how this environment can provide businesses with unprecedented processing power, bandwidth and storage capacity, without the burdens of capital expenses and IT staff overhead.

Image credit: Mikael Altemark