Information Technology Risk Analysis and Cyber Security Policy
In Cary, North Carolina’s healthcare scene, Apex Regional Medical Center is a staple of excellent care. Its approach to data confidentiality, integrity, and availability matches its passion for patient well-being and therapeutic excellence. As guardians of sensitive patient data and crucial medical records, the organization must strengthen its cybersecurity. The organization strives for the best data security with strong access controls, encryption techniques, and proactive compliance.
Privacy Policy
Policy on access
Access to sensitive data should be limited to authorized persons with a reasonable need to know (Mishra et al., 2022). Further, access privileges should be based on roles and responsibilities, following the principle of least privilege. Hence, log and routinely check access to sensitive systems and data for illegal access.
Encryption Policy
All sensitive data, including health records and financial information, must be encrypted during storage and transmission. To maintain data secrecy, strong encryption techniques and key management practices must be used. Encryption should apply to email, databases, and portable storage devices to prevent illegal access.
Physical Security Policy
To protect sensitive data, restricted physical access to facilities using access cards, biometric verification, and security cameras is needed. To prevent unwanted entry, environmental controls and alarms should be installed in server rooms, data centers, and storage spaces. Portable devices should be protected and encrypted with sensitive data when not in use to prevent theft or loss.
Integrity Policy
Validation Data Policy
Validation methods are used in data input and processing systems to ensure accuracy and completeness. Furthermore, regular data integrity checks should be conducted to identify and fix flaws or inconsistencies in stored data. Implement version control systems to track and prevent unauthorized changes to essential documents.
Manage Change Policy
Plan and document changes to software, hardware, configurations, and processes that may affect data integrity. Change requests should be reviewed, approved, and tested before implementation to avoid unforeseen consequences. Notably, establishing and maintaining configuration baselines is important for easy rollback of unauthorized or incorrect changes.
Backup and Recovery Plan
Regular backups of critical data and systems should follow predetermined schedules and retention regulations. Hence, backup integrity must be ensured through periodic testing and validation to ensure data recovery in case of loss or corruption. Further, disaster recovery plans should be developed and tested to reduce downtime and data loss during catastrophic failures or cyber-attacks.
Availability Policy
Failover and Redundancy Policy
Mission-critical systems and services should be designed with redundancy and failover capabilities for continuous availability. Redundant hardware, network connections, and power sources should be used to reduce single points of failure. Automation and test failover techniques enable smooth transition during system outages or disruptions.
Performance Monitoring Policy
Maintenance of continuous system performance, network traffic, and resource use monitoring would help to identify and resolve issues. Further, effective capacity planning and optimization are necessary to fulfill current and future demands. Hence, it is important to set up alerts and notifications to notify IT professionals of anomalies in service availability or degradation.
Incident Response Policy
Establish a comprehensive incident response plan for security incidents, service outages, and other availability-impacting events. Further, it establishes and educates event response teams on how to quickly address incidents, restore services, and minimize operational effects. Perform post-incident analysis and remediation to identify root causes, execute remedial actions, and prevent recurrence.
Overall, these policies protect the organization’s data from unauthorized access, corruption, and service disruptions. These policies must be reviewed, updated, and enforced regularly to ensure security and reduce hazards.
Cybersecurity Laws
HITECH and HIPAA Compliance
Apex Regional Medical Center’s cyber security plan follows HIPAA and HITECH regulations. To preserve electronic health records privacy as required by HIPAA, confidentiality, integrity, and availability must be stressed. The HITECH Act increases HIPAA penalties and provides breach notification guidelines (Kosseff, 2017). This Apex Regional Medical Centre security policy prohibits unauthorized access, encourages encryption, and requires data breach notification. Audits ensure compliance with the HITECH Act and HIPAA, preventing patient privacy violations.
State Data Breach Notification Laws
State data breach reporting standards require Apex Regional Medical Centre to notify affected parties and regulatory bodies of personal data breaches in addition to federal regulations (Flowers et al., 2013). The security policy follows North Carolina’s transparent breach notification laws and other state restrictions. Through continual evaluation, it fosters breach reporting compliance transparency and accountability for successful data protection.
FTC Act Compliance
The FTC Act forbids unfair or deceptive consumer privacy practices in healthcare businesses’ data processing. Apex Regional Medical Center’s safety management system meets FTC openness, accountability, and consumer protection standards. Our center is audited often to ensure it follows FTC requirements and treats customers ethically.
Apex Regional Medical Center complies with federal cybersecurity laws and understands computer-based activities and data protection. Unauthorized access, computer fraud, and copyright violations online are punishable by the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Stored Communications Act, and Digital Millennium Copyright. The business security policy prohibits these laws-violating actions. Apex Regional Medical Center explicitly defines permissible conduct and stringent boundaries to comply with federal cyber laws, protect user rights, and avoid legal liabilities.
Apex Regional Medical Center understands criminal, civil, and private cybersecurity laws that punish data breaches, negligence, and noncompliance. Due to legal ramifications, security policy emphasizes legal compliance, risk management, and liability minimization. Legal counsel and compliance officers collaborate to reduce risks and promote legal and ethical responsibility.
Assessment of Network Cybersecurity Policy: Minimizing Risks and Vulnerabilities
This regional medical institution recognizes the need for network cybersecurity regulations to combat escalating cyber threats and reduce vulnerabilities. The organization can reduce risks and vulnerabilities by reviewing the network cybersecurity policies. The crucial areas mentioned below affect policy effectiveness.
Firstly, the network cybersecurity strategy includes frequent risk assessments to identify threats. The company’s risk landscape is comprehensively examined to prioritize mitigation. This proactive approach enables us to repair problems before attackers. Secondly, the policy restricts access and requires authentication to protect critical systems and data. RBAC, MFA, and strong passwords restrict access to critical resources to authorized users (Adomako et al., 2018). Periodic audits check for unauthorized access to vital resources.
The network cybersecurity strategy also involves continuous network traffic monitoring, including IDS, to detect odd behavior or security breaches. Real-time notifications allow Apex Regional Medical Center to fix network infrastructure security flaws, lowering cyber threats. Moreover, the policy addresses software and system security vulnerabilities with timely patching and vulnerability fixes. Regular patching cycles deploy essential security changes quickly to lessen cyberattack risk. Continuous vulnerability scanning and penetration testing fix them. Apex Regional Medical Center’s network cybersecurity strategy includes incident response and contingency planning to reduce security risks and operations disruptions. Team training and equipment assist incident response teams in detecting, containing, eliminating, and recovering security events. The Apex Regional Medical Center incident response strategy is tested via tabletop exercises and simulations for security events.
Subsequently, the cybersecurity policy emphasizes employee knowledge and training to protect networks. Training on developing threats, safe computing best practices and network asset protection increases staff cyberspace awareness. Staff computer use will be monitored for security. Overall, Apex Regional Medical Center is improving its Network Cybersecurity Policy to decrease risk and exposure. The medical center creates a secure network by addressing these issues through proactive procedures, monitoring, and training.
Developing Security Policy Sections for Acceptable Use
Apex Regional Medical Center must use technology responsibly to protect patient data and operations. Privacy issues like social media, email, and internet use at work are outlined in the security policy.
Privacy Policy
Firstly, one should always protect patient privacy and confidentiality. Secondly, only authorized users with a legitimate need-to-know should access patient or sensitive data. Thirdly, personally owned devices cannot access or store patient data without consent (Doherty et al., 2011). Lastly, patient confidentiality violations should be reported immediately for inquiry by authorities.
Social Media Policy
Firstly, if corporate norms are followed, employees can utilize social media professionally. Furthermore, personal social media use at work should be limited to designated breaks to maximize productivity. Thirdly, disclosing sensitive patient, coworker, or hospital information should be avoided. Finally, one should always act professionally and uphold organizational standards on social media to retain the organization’s reputation.
Policy on Email Use
All emails should be for business purposes only. Second, employees should not open virus or phishing emails/attachments. Also, send confidential emails encrypted. Lastly, personal email accounts may be insecure; therefore, employees should limit their use.
Policy on Internet Use
Workers are discouraged from visiting non-work-related websites on company-provided internet. Further, unlicensed software, applications, and content pose security hazards, so downloading them is prohibited. Also, site-based online filtering and monitoring software blocks hazardous websites and enforces internet legislation. Lastly, any employee who notices suspicious or illegal internet activity must notify the IT department immediately so an investigation can be conducted to identify a solution.
Apex Regional Medical Center makes sure employees use technology responsibly by creating clear procedures. At Apex Regional Medical Center Inc., consistent retraining, monitoring, and complete enforcement of these regulations protect sensitive data and prevent technological misuse threats. This creates a secure, resilient workplace through staff education beyond the physical defenses.
References
Adomako, K., Mohamed, N., Garba, A., & Saint, M. (2018, March). Assessing cybersecurity policy effectiveness in Africa via a cybersecurity liability index. TPRC.
Doherty, N. F., Anastasakis, L., & Fulford, H. (2011). Reinforcing the security of corporate information resources: A critical review of the role of the acceptable use policy. International journal of information management, 31(3), 201–209.
Flowers, A., Zeadally, S., & Murray, A. (2013). Cybersecurity and US legislative efforts to address cybercrime. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 10(1), 29–55.
Kosseff, J. (2017). Defining cybersecurity law. Iowa L. Rev., pp. 103, 985.
Mishra, A., Alzoubi, Y. I., Gill, A. Q., & Anwar, M. J. (2022). Cybersecurity enterprises policies: A comparative study. Sensors, 22(2), 538.
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Question 
Information Technology Risk Analysis and Cyber Security Policy Part 2 Guidelines and Rubric
In the second portion of this assessment, you create an organizational cyber-security policy using the information that was identified in the risk analysis paper.
Information Technology Risk Analysis and Cyber Security Policy
Prompt
You will submit your creation of a cyber-security policy. The cyber-security policy will assess how the organization will interpret security issues that occur in the workplace. The cyber-security policy will also distinguish and examine ethical issues in the workplace that pertain to social media, email, and privacy.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Compose an organizational security policy that protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the organization’s data.
Evaluate the current U.S. cyber laws; state statutes; and criminal, civil, private, and public laws and compare them with the organizational security policy to ensure compliance.
Assess the network cyber-security policy to determine if the policy is able to minimize risks and vulnerabilities.
Develop security policy sections that identify acceptable use for users pertaining to privacy, social media, email usage, and internet usage in the workplace.
What to Submit
Your paper must be submitted as a three- to five-page Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format.