8 Strategies for Tightening Mobile Security at Hospitals

More than 5 percent of all Apple and Android smartphones will be infected with some type of malware in the next year, security firm Trusteer predicts, according to a report in the UK-based Telegraph. While that might not sound like a large number initially, consider that it equates to one in 20 phones. That should be a frightening statistic for hospital CIOs, given that more than 60 percent of physicians currently are using smartphones, and 80 percent are expected to be using them by next year.

With that in mind, Rick Kam, president of security firm ID Experts, last week shared eight strategies to ratchet down mobile security for healthcare facilities. His advice includes:

• Only allowing wireless devices to access--not store--patient data: If you do allow users to store sensitive data, be sure it is fully encrypted.
• Requiring all users to set up the password protection on their wireless devices, and configure the screen to lock down after only a short period of inactivity...