Sidekick - Winter 2012 - (Page 76)

Secure? Are You Sure? 5 Security Safeguards You Can’t Risk Ignoring PC and network security are hot topics, thanks to ever-evolving Internet threats. Here are 10 rules to live by (even if you’re not a computer geek). JASON paper and tape them to your computers for all to see. 2) Your name is a bad password. As a rule, mix numbers, words, symbols, and capitalization in your passwords. A good example is “G8D3nti5t!” (Think “Great Dentist!”). However, you can’t use that one now that I’ve told the whole world. See Rule #1 above. Create a variation of an easy-toremember word or words, like your first car, pet’s name, or favorite hobby. Many Internet sites already require passwords containing a mix of characters today, so why shouldn’t your practice’s security policy. Can’t remember all your passwords? Neither can I. Get a reputable password manager for your smartphone. They keep all your passwords close at hand, security encrypted—and you can back them up somewhere safe in case you lose your device. It is worth the $.99 to $5.99 investment. And yes… you’ll need a password for password manager as well. 3) Keep up to keep safe. Operating systems and applications, especially browsers, must be patched continually to protect against new threats. Keep up to date with updates for the software you rely on most. 4) Protect yourself from viruses your autoclave can’t kill. Well, that might not be true. However, super-heating your hard drive until it melts will destroy a computer virus, but that will get expensive. Antivirus software on every computer is a must, and each computer must have regular updates to its antivirus software. A quick check of your antivirus software will tell when the last time your protection was updated and when the last full scan was completed. Been a while for either one? Turn on your software’s automatic update feature and adjust the automatic scan schedule. 5) Wireless good! Unsecured wireless bad! We all love free Internet access while we wait for coffee, our dinner, or an oil changes. And yes, your patients will love you for it, too. However, leaving your Wi-Fi open for all to use puts you at risk. Configuring your wireless router so it WERNER HENRY SCHEIN TECHCENTRAL Operating systems and applications, especially browsers, must be patched continually to protect against new threats. Just locking your practice’s front door at night doesn’t mean your practice is totally protected from intrusion or threats. I bet you lock the back door, windows, and employee entrance as well. But what about that thin, little wire that brings you the Internet. In today’s ultraconnected world with Internet access on everything from PCs to phones, you must take computer security precautions seriously or put your practice at risk. Protecting your practice requires you to make network and data security a priority, especially now that more of your records, business transactions, and data are digitized and accessible over the Internet. Not a computer security expert? Here are 10 things you can do to reduce your risk and better protect your practice. Volumes of information have been written on computer security, and this list is certainly not a complete list of all the security safeguards available to you. However, these quick tips go a long way toward protecting you from the nastiness (and costs, time loss and stress) that await the unprotected. The basic concepts, best practices and technologies below are things you should be familiar with and use in your network operations to keep things safe. 1) Your password is your friend. I’m amazed at the number of offices I come across that don’t have passwords for their systems or have a standard password for everything. You must require a password on every computer, all the time. Don’t let users share their passwords. Don’t write them on a little yellow piece of 76 sidekick | winter 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sidekick - Winter 2012

Sidekick - Winter 2012
Table of Contents
Johnson Family Dental
A Switch—Just in Time
We Do That!
Using the iPad to Optimize Your Practice
Henry Schein Financial Services
Examining Patient Financing
Keep Score and Win With Technology!
Carr Pediatric Dentistry
Privileges
Lasers. It’s Time to Start Lighting It Up and Learning!
Individuality and Compatibility
E4D Compass: Showing Us the Right Way
Lake Shore Cosmetic Dentistry
Designing and Building the Dental Office That Works for You— A Step-by-Step Guide
TechCentral
Secure? Are You Sure?
Henry Schein Financial Services
Professional Practice Transitions

Sidekick - Winter 2012