Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Luke Cunningham | 201001-N-LW757-1001 SAN DIEGO (Oct. 1, 2020) A Naval Medical Center San Diego Cyber...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO – Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) observes National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) during October.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced this year’s theme, “Do Your Part, #BeCyberSmart,” which encourages individuals and organizations to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace, stressing personal accountability and the importance of taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity.
Resources for service members and civilians are widely available to better educate themselves on cybersecurity, and NMCSD’s Information Cyber Security Division (ICSD) works to keep the hospital’s data safe while promoting the safe use of networks.
“All Sailors and staff assigned to NMCSD are responsible for protecting sensitive and protected identifying, health information,” said Soni Shala, ICSD’s information systems security manager and cyber security division officer. “Our Navy faces daily, critical cybersecurity challenges from both internal and external threats. It’s critical to protect information that could impact our patient care.”
Shala advises that users should practice appropriate use of government computer resources, email and web browsing in the daily route, both at work and while teleworking. The use of strong passwords, that are not easy to guess, is a simple tip to maintain cybersecurity.
“[NMCSD Sailors and staff should] never store or process sensitive information on any system not approved for handling that type of material,” Shala said.
NMCSD’s networks and data are kept safe by the vigilance of ICSD.
“[ICSD] ensures all security controls are implemented correctly and wholly, based on the Defense Health Agency’s best practices,” said Shala. “The principles of confidentiality, integrity and availability are always adhered to. ICSD verifies all products and services have completed the appropriate evaluation and configuration processes prior to connecting to the network. Programs such as antivirus applications and intrusion detection systems help to maintain the overall security posture of [NMCSD’s] networks.”
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many employees have adopted a telework schedule to adhere to social-distancing policies. In order to protect themselves at home, ICSD recommends the following: Reboot your computer prior to establishing a virtual, private network connection, ensure government devices are patches with the latest updates, do not leave applications like email or video teleconference software running when you are not actively using them, do not use any non-Department of Defense (DOD) instant messaging applications to share DOD information, do not leave the computer unlocked when unattended, do not forward personally identifiable information or protected health information from official email accounts to personal email accounts, do not use personal email accounts for official business, do not work for public locations and do not use untrusted internet connections.
Shala advised that any suspicious activity should be reported to one’s chain of command immediately.
Even though NCSAM is observed in October, maintaining cybersecurity is a year-round mission for all hands.
NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere.
Visit navy.mil or facebook.com/NMCSD for more information.
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.09.2020 15:15 |
| Story ID: | 380596 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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