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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Information Security, Legal, Regulatory Compliance

I recently blogged about the Veterans Affairs and the lost laptop that cost Veterans Affairs (tax payers) $20M to settle a lawsuit against them.  Now we have some very expensive trash. Attention all public and private organizational leaders!  Did you see the FTC charges released last week against CVS Caremark Corporation?  The costs of not establishing, implementing and maintaining a comprehensive information security program to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal information it collects from consumers and their employees is expensive! The FTC order requires CVS to pay $2.25 million to HHS to settle HIPAA violations and CVS is required to obtain independent,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

In case you didn’t notice among all the TARP and Stimulus Bill news…the Veterans Affairs Department has agreed to pay $20M to settle a lawsuit filed by veterans due to a VA laptop containing sensitive information stolen in 2006.  (Before I go any further, I want to be clear that I completely support veterans receiving compensation for out-of-pocket expenses that resulted from the computer theft, credit monitoring to protect against identity loss and medical expenses that were the result of severe emotional distress.) So how is “customized knowledge” and “individual-level accountability” worth at least $20M of your and my money (tax payer dollars)? For starters,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Human Resources, Information Privacy, Information Security, Risk Management

I was reading about a “reply all” storm that hit the State Department’s e-mail systems and thought I would take this opportunity to point out how “megaphone management” is ineffective and also point out how next generation knowledge management is more effective and more efficient. Megaphone Management 101 – Executive Management decides to blast out a cable or e-mail to all employees and it is not clear regarding where responsibility begins or ends, lacks accountability and offers no auditability. In this example, State Department employees and American Diplomats received a cable from the Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy that: Instructed people toRead More →