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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Business Continuity, Campus Safety, Incident Reporting, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

  If you did not read Part 1…you may want to do so before reading Part 2. During my EduComm presentation,  I identified numerous school related incidents and lessons learned and multiple new ways to improve campus safety, reduce costs, protect reputations and save lives. Then after reviewing multiple lessons learned I asked the group another question: What does each of these well-documented incidents have in common? Columbine Virginia Tech Fort Hood University of Alabama-Huntsville   According to expert reviews and reports, each of these incidents could have been prevented. Let me repeat….each of these incidents could have been prevented.  Each of these incidents couldRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, Human Resources, Incident Reporting, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, School Safety

  I blogged a few weeks ago about the parent suing the Ottawa Catholic School Bard for $325,000, alleging the school failed to protect her child from repeated acts of bullying.  Two more lawsuits have recently made the headlines and school leaders are probably wondering, “Will we be next?” In Australia, a teenage girl was awarded $290,000 in compensation by the Education Department after years of harassment and bullying at school left her a physical and emotional wreck. The girl’s parents had pleaded with the school principal to protect their daughter, and held regular discussions with teachers and the school chaplain.  But the school failedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance

We have all heard the wise old saying….’One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ and potentially we have yet another lesson learned for organizations who are obligated to protect their client’s personal information. In this lesson learned from Ohio, three large storage bins were stolen from outside of three different bank branches in three different cities.  Each of the three large storage bins contained paper that was waiting to be shredded and at least one of the storage bins contained personal documents of bank customers. A few questions this incident brings to mind: Should personal data be stored outside of buildings? Should trash/storage bins beRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Business Continuity, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

Yes, I admit it…I was surfing the FDIC web site this past weekend and I was spending some time reviewing past Financial Institution Letters that the FDIC releases to advise the banking industry of supervisory changes and guidelines. I came across a Financial Institution Letter for Newly Insured FDIC-Supervised Depository Institutions that included the new changes, as well as a list of common elements from troubled or failed institutions. The list offers some potential lessons learned for organizational leaders (board of directors, executive management, compliance and others) and so I thought I would share the list. Rapid growth Over-reliance on volatile funding, including brokered depositsRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Information Privacy, Regulatory Compliance

If you were busy getting your costume ready for Halloween, you might have missed the news release from HHS on October 30, 2009.  This news release should be taken seriously by all covered entities and organizational leaders that have responsibilities for protected health information (PHI) The news release announces that HHS has issued an interim final rule to strengthen its enforcement of the rules within HIPAA to conform to the HIPAA enforcement regulations made by the HITECH Act. As you may remember, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Privacy, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

In this Network World article, a US District Court Judge in California ordered Google to deactivate the Gmail account of a User who accidentally received personally identifiable information.  An employee of Rocky Mountain Bank sent an e-mail to the User’s account in error containing names, Social Security Numbers and loan information of more than 1300 bank customers.  Once the employee realized their mistake, they quickly sent a follow-up e-mail requesting that the recipient destroy the previous e-mail and contact Rocky Mountain Bank as soon as possible.  After receiving no reply from the recipient, the bank contacted Google and asked for information on the Gmail accountRead More →

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

Awareity’s CEO/President, Rick Shaw, is planning to share his knowledge and expertise at several upcoming events in the Lincoln/Omaha area.  October 13 – HRAM Omaha October 15 – AITP Omaha November 19  – AITP Lincoln March 17 – ARMA Lincoln Previous blog posts and every day headlines reveal organizations are struggling to keep up with escalating complexities.  So how can lessons learned help organizations keep up more effectively and efficiently? Rick will discuss real world examples and case studies to share proven steps organizational leaders can use to implement lessons learned and improve management efforts across all appropriate personnel – no matter how many departments,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Security, Legal, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management

Two recent headlines caught my attention: Construction Company Sues Bank for Money Lost in Cyber Scam Couple’s Lawsuit Against Bank Over Breach to Move Forward In both of these cases, banks are being sued for not taking adequate precautions that could have prevented cyber thieves from stealing money from the customers’ accounts.  The customers claim that the banks did not offer two-factor authentication and also failed to notice suspicious and anomalous behavior.  Therefore, the customers are claiming that the banks breached their duty to protect account holder information. These lawsuits could have significant ramifications and I will be curious to see the final outcome.  ShouldRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance

Please take a moment to consider how these Lessons Learned could be implemented by managers within your organization to avoid expensive and embarrassing situations… U.S. Government Advises Businesses on Swine Flu. Government officials are calling on U.S. businesses to help manage the H1N1 flu this fall by developing customized plans for managing both the seasonal and swine flu, getting vaccines to vulnerable workers and encouraging employees with symptoms to stay home. Court indicts Hackers in Largest Data Breaches in US History A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted Albert “Segvec” Gonzalez in the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted. Gonzalez was involvedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Information Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance

Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new regulations this week requiring healthcare providers, health plans and other entities covered by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to notify patients if their electronic health information has been breached. The regulations were developed by HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and require healthcare providers and other HIPAA covered entities to promptly notify people, the HHS and the media in breaches that affect more than 500 people. Earlier this week, HHS announced that they delegated the authority for the administration and enforcement of the HIPAA Security Rule to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Any lessons learnedRead More →