by
Carl Hampton
10/17/2006
A federal investigation has shown that
there were flaws in the computer security
system that holds information of those
enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. The
results have shown that personal information
could be modified, misused, or even worse
deleted. That disruption in information
could lead to problems with Medicaid and
Medicare services. Although that breach in
security is being fixed, there is still
information out there that can be attained
by any hacker because the system is used by
most of the Medicaid agencies, private
contractors and health care providers.
The Government Accountability Office
however, is stating that maybe there was no
breach in security since they cannot find an
“audit trail” which would document the
use of the computer network. If there was an
“audit trail” then the GAO could detect
where the intrusion was. But the GAO did
state there were some problems. Passwords
can very easily be guessed by an outsider so
there is potential for an unauthorized user
to get access to the system because there is
little or not much password control. The
second problem is that Medicare information
is not encrypted which means a hacker can
view all medical information as is. Another
major problem is that there is no system in
place that keeps records of who uses the
network or what they do.
Whether the GAO can find the breach or not,
the fact that the information is not safe is
scary and needs to be adjusted immediately.
This now means that the information for
millions of people is just floating around
for anyone to see. That is a concern to
those people on the Medicare system because
they trust the system to keep their personal
information private and secure.
This is not the first time there has been a
concern in the safety of computer systems.
In May of 2006 a laptop was reported stolen
from the home of an employee of the
Department of Veteran Affairs. The laptop
had information about millions of veterans
across the U.S. That included their social
security numbers, dates of birth, name and
home addresses. The network also documents
financial and medical information which
shows a veteran's diagnosis, services and
payments.
If this information were to fall into the
wrong hands an entire network of
institutions could be effected. That means
banks, insurance companies, hospitals,
health plans, nursing homes, private
contractors and federal agencies. It's time
for a better and safer system of record
keeping.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer, then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
