“Scientia potentia est”. “Knowledge is power”.

American companies are hotfooted to clinch the new requirements of the Privacy Shield. Since the European Commission officially adopted the framework on July 12, organizations have scurried to understand the finalized principles, determine the applicability of each, and develop a plan for implementing any necessary privacy mechanisms and controls. Like most legal texts though, the Privacy Shield can be difficult to digest. Some of the principles have been significantly restructured, are riddled with stipulations and situational exceptions, and are a bit ambiguous. Our firm’s fielded an inpouring of questions looking for perspective and advice on which aspects of the Privacy Shield will be the riskiest and most burdensome. Here is my two cents worth on trying to prioritize and tackle some of the essentials.

It’s ten p.m. on a weekend night. You’re relaxing at home when your phone rings. It’s your chief information security officer. Your company has experienced a security incident and panic starts to set in.

Security is vital to the healthcare industry. Thirteen percent of CIOs, CTOs and CSOs reported being targeted by external threat attempts almost once a day, and 12 percent reported about two or more attacks per week. Furthermore, 16 percent of healthcare organizations admitted they are unable to detect in real time if their systems are compromised.

If you remember the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the villain Davy Jones cuts his heart from his chest and locks it away, hiding it from the world and protecting it from the ravages of grief. Bit of a drastic action if you ask us, but we—like most people—can understand taking serious lengths to protect the things we care about. That includes information. In this day and age of the Internet, where so much of life takes place, it can be tough to safeguard such data, especially when malicious attackers are constantly seeking to steal it and take advantage.