Why Would Someone Want to Compromise Medical Data?

by Sarah Harvey / December 16, 2022

Imagine if you could search someone’s name on Google, and their full span of medical data and complete medical history was available. An employer could do it, a potential date could do it, an estranged family member could do it – how scary would that be? There’s debate about how much the average piece of medical data is worth, but trust us, it adds up. The many facets of the…

SOC 2 Academy: Dealing with External Threats

by Joseph Kirkpatrick / May 31, 2023

Common Criteria 6.6 When a service organization undergoes a SOC 2 audit, auditors will verify whether they comply with the common criteria listed in the 2017 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria. Common criteria 6.6 says, “The entity implements logical access security measures to protect against threats from sources outside its system boundaries.” How can organizations be sure that they’re complying with this criterion? Let’s discuss. Dealing with External Threats During…

Signs that You’re in a Good Relationship with Your Auditing Firm

by Sarah Harvey / June 14, 2023

When choosing an audit firm to partner with, it should be more than just a business transaction: you should be thinking about building a relationship with an organization and how its employees will help your organization in the long run. Like any relationship, there are sure to be challenges along the way, and the auditor-auditee relationship is no exception. Whether it’s your first time partnering with an audit firm or…

Canada’s New Breach Notification Law: Preparation and Impact

by Sarah Harvey / December 16, 2022

On November 1, 2018, Canada’s Data Privacy Act amended the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Data Act (PIPEDA) to include Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations. Organizations subject to PIPEDA will now have to report breaches that pose a “real risk of significant harm” to affected individuals to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). What does this new regulation mean for organizations and how can they operate in…

Voice-Enabled Devices and Data Privacy: Lessons Learned from Amazon

by Sarah Harvey / December 16, 2022

“Alexa, what’s the weather like in Nashville today?” Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, the Google Assistant – the list of voice assistants and voice-enabled devices seems to just keep growing. “Hey Google, could you set an alarm for 8:00 AM tomorrow?” Their basic goal is to make our lives easier, right? Through voice assistants’ language processing abilities, they can complete all types of tasks – stream music, set an alarm, take…