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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 37 A U G U S T 7 , 2 0 1 7 F O C U S C O R P O R AT E S E C U R I T Y "People want to be creative and get their job done," Fortunato says. " ey don't want to bother with this." But when employers demonstrate to employees that a breach can have a huge impact on the company, then employees are more apt to get on board. More employers are holding infor- mation security training sessions to keep employees up to date on practices. Fortunato recommends holding them once a year, and at even shorter inter- vals at the beginning. 'It's a safety issue' Businesses are also rethinking whose job it is to pay attention to cyber security. "It's not just an IT issue," says Christine Worthen, a partner at Pierce Atwood, and chairwoman of the fi rm's health care practice. at means it's everyone's issue and crosses platforms. It's particularly an issue in health care, because of patient records, shared medical information, and complex HIPPA and FDA regulations. Data security breaches in health care can be more critical than other areas because of the nature of the informa- tion. "It's a safety issue," she says. "It can really harm patients." As awareness grows about how wide-ranging security measures have to be, smaller health care providers wonder how they're going to pay for them. "Ignoring it is not an option," Worthen says. e issue alone isn't the reason there have been so many health care mergers recently, but the cost factors of protect- ing information are one of the many burdens providers going it alone bear. 'An arms race' Guffi n, Worthen and Fortunato all say education and awareness are the keys. Businesses are getting on board with that, putting the eff ort into prevention, rather than waiting for something to happen. Fortunato says thefts skyrocketed to billions of dollars a year once organized crime became involved in data theft. " ese folks are smart," he says. " ey're nefarious entities doing some research and targeting their attacks." Guffi n doesn't think we'll ever get to a place where there is complete cyber security, but more businesses are recognizing that they're at risk. "It's an arms race," he says. "You have to stay one step ahead of the bad guys." M M , a cor r espondent f o r M a i n e b i z , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ . Tips to protect yourself online W hile many businesses are dramatically changing the way employees use passwords, most people are still not aware of just how unsecure their passwords are and what impact that can have both at home and at work. Think you're all set because you cleverly use that "@" for an "a" or "5" for an "S"? How about the classic "0" for an "O"? Those guys trying to hack your email are way ahead of you, says Peter Fortunato, a manager in the risk and business advisory practice at accounting fi rm Baker Newman Noyes. And by the way — those guys aren't what you see in the movies, someone sitting under a bare lightbulb in his T-shirt typing in password guesses. These days sophisticated algorithms can run through every word in the dictionary, then start trying variations, before you've even fi gured out what to use instead of "@." There are some basic things you can do to protect your information, Fortunato says. DO: Enable more than one authentica- tion method when it's offered Give bogus answers to security questions (even Mom will under- stand if you don't use her real maiden name) Use a bogus birthdate Have a second email address that's only used for password recovery and nothing else. DON'T: Reuse passwords Use dictionary words Use standard numeral substitu- tions for letters or have a pass- word shorter than 10 characters.

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