Data encryption is just one of the ways we help keep your data safe.
Here’s the new reality: There is a criminal out there that wants your data. It seems like every month there’s a high-profile data breach, from hospitals attacked with ransomware to consumer credit card data stolen from some of the biggest retailers in the nation.
Security Intelligence says you’re more likely to experience a data breach of 10,000 records than you are to catch the flu this winter. One point of vulnerability is the crucial data transfers between you and your third-party debt collector. There is significant personal information in each one of these files, marking them as a particularly attractive target for the average hacker.
This article explores the issues around debt collection records and cyber security breaches, particularly in the healthcare sector. How are the issues related? How can businesses minimize their risk and ensure sensitive customer information remains protected?
Data Security Risks and Costs
Security Intelligence has quantified the average cost per record of a data breach to be $148. But an article in Healthcare Informatics puts the cost much higher for data that contains Personal Health Information (PHI). That’s because federal HIPAA laws require hospitals to take measures to protect patient data. If hospitals (and their third-party vendors) fail in this endeavor, hefty federal fines hit in addition to the standard costs to clean up the mess. Not to mention that hospitals are required to report the breach, which can significantly damage the hospital’s reputation.
Cyber security with your third-party vendors should be a growing concern for your IT team.
It’s for all these reasons that Healthcare Informatics says it costs an average of $408 per patient record for a healthcare security breach. But non-healthcare companies can also suffer from federal penalties from organizations such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The danger is real; here are some facts that should concern you:
- In 2017, 70% of organizations say they feel their security risks increased.
- It takes the majority of companies more than six months to discover they’ve been hacked.
- 230,000 new malware tools are created every day around the world.
With all of these risks in mind, how can your data collection firm keep customer data safer?
Mitigate the Risk: Choose TSI
TSI services as an example of best-in-class security for all of the industries we serve. We have invested significantly in the cyber security encryption of data in transit and at rest, meeting or exceeding cyber security guidelines including HIPAA, NIST, FISMA, and PCI-DSS. We have a secured facility data center with 100% uptime. TSI also offers next-gen redundancies for data preservation and a commitment to keeping networks secure from fire, flood, physical intrusion or other catastrophes.
Ironically, TSI competes against other collection agencies that can’t afford the infrastructure necessary to meet the cyber security challenges we’re facing.
We know you have choices when it comes to choosing a third-party debt collection firm. TSI has made the financial and time commitment to partner with some of the largest enterprises in the nation in all industries including healthcare, finance, and retail. Working together, we can create a culture of cyber security in debt collections.
