No one likes to hear that a network outage has occurred, especially when that network contains proprietary or personal information. Target suffered extensive bad press when it announced its network had been breached during the busiest time of the year in 2013. Facebook (News - Alert) had a blunder of its own when millions of email addresses or telephone numbers where leaked due to a programming error.
Breaches are big news and they grab headline attention, with just cause. No one wants to hear that their credit card information or login and password has been made available for anyone interested in taking it. For that reason, companies throughout the world make significant investments in security software and monitoring solutions. When remote access is a reality, they also have out of band management.
For Community Health Systems (CHS) in Franklin, Tenn., roughly 4.5 million people in 28 states are now at risk of identity theft thanks to a massive breach of the organization’s health network. Operating more than 200 hospitals, CHS disclosed in a regulatory filing that China-based hackers, known as the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT (News - Alert)) group, accessed the system sometime in April and again in June.
This hacking success was more than a little fruitful as the perpetrators were able to bypass security controls put in place by the organization and pull out names, addresses, social security numbers, birthdates and phone numbers of those who had received or were referred for services by doctors affiliated with CHS over the past five years.
Once upon a time, companies worried about theft would install alarm systems, night guards and other means within the physical perimeters of the company to protect their known assets. There was also a priority to protect client information, but it was assumed that if someone couldn’t get in the door, they couldn’t get this information. Times have certainly changed.
Today, companies are leveraging technologies like out of band management to ensure the optimal performance of their networks from any location. This is common for companies with branch location and multiple corporate facilities. Of course the very technology that can make it easy to manage processes can also invite outsiders to take advantage of vulnerabilities in the network.
As such, it’s critical that only proven providers like Opengear (News - Alert) should be engaged in the use of out of band management technologies to ensure secure access to the network at all times. Likewise, monitoring and protection software must be up-to-date and tracking procedures to ensure breaches are detected before information is accessed is crucial.
In the commercial sector today, we rely on the capabilities afforded networked solutions and online options. If they aren’t protected, that trust will disappear.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson