By Charles A. Lewis *

(* Neither the author nor his company has any financial interest in the anti-virus company / products described. The author is the CEO of Advanced Ortho Systems.)

 

The rapidly increasing daily use of the Internet by orthodontic offices is now leading to virus problems and risks they have never encountered before. In fact, many doctors are unaware that the risks exist for them and/or that their practice data might already be infected! As CEO of an orthodontic software company, it is my belief that the potential dangers are so severe that they should be immediately pointed out to orthodontists and that viable solutions should be presented. To accomplish this, one of the world’s leading experts in the development of anti-virus protection ¹ was asked to contribute his expertise to this article and, thankfully, he agreed to do so.

 

Because articles in the Orthodontic CYBERjournal are commonly read by orthodontists all over the world, its publishers (both are orthodontists) were approached about this critical problem. After we reviewed the facts, they were of the same mind about the importance of the information and agreed to publish the article as quickly as it could be written.

 

The point of this article is to urgently put all the relevant information into plain language, and in a succinct manner that is directly applicable to the orthodontic practice. Hopefully, it will explain the dangers and provide orthodontists with the necessary information to act on the problem . . . before it is too late!

 

Identifying the Danger: Viruses

 

In recent years, as the use of the World Wide Web has increased substantially so has the threat of infection from viruses transmitted via the Internet; especially through E-mail, macros, instant messaging, and web applications. These viruses are unpredictable, highly damaging, and are maliciously spread. As if that isn’t bad enough, they are now more powerful and sophisticated, are being released faster, and the threat from them continues to grow. For instance: you might have heard of a few of these more recent active Internet \ E-mail borne viruses: Anne Kournikove, Nimba, SoBig, I Love You, MyDoom and a few months ago (05/01/04) there was a red alert virus outbreak known as the “SASSER” worm. This worm is still spreading across the Internet in a manner unlike most other worms and consumers are unfamiliar with Sasser’s methods. It's extremely easy to become infected: a user is at risk simply by connecting to the Internet. No E-mail attachment has to be opened; in fact, no user interaction is required at all. To make matters worse, traditional consumer desktop antivirus software won't prevent infections - even if it's updated. 

 

Why Orthodontic Offices are so Vulnerable

 

In the world of small, medium and large businesses, managing security for networks is a difficult and challenging task, even when performed by a full-time Information Technology (‘IT’) staff. The cost of anti-virus protection, already a significant percentage of network security expense, is rapidly rising. At present, viruses are being created more frequently and can infect enterprise networks at a rapid-fire rate; often before an update is available from the anti-virus software vendor and/or before the IT staff can distribute the updates. The problem is so great that the monitoring of networks and their workstations in order to provide complete anti-virus protection, is consuming more and more time of the professional IT personnel in these small through large enterprises.

 

With that in mind, now consider that an orthodontic office that connects to the Internet, whether via dialup or broadband connection, is exposed to all the same threats just described. The big difference is that the ortho office doesn’t have an IT staff and many don’t even have anti-virus software on all their at-risk PCs. Those who do have anti-virus software admit that they rarely find time to download updates at all; let alone to download and install daily updates to all their network workstations during periods when rapid-fire outbreaks are taking place.

 

Since orthodontic practices do not have IT personnel, the staff rarely has anyone that can explain how to minimize and/or avoid the risks of infection, or even how to properly use anti-virus software. Most do not know how to interact with the desktop anti-virus product on their computer; some have been known to disable their anti-virus software in the belief that it slows their PC’s performance.  All of this can make the patient data in the practice very vulnerable to the serious risks posed by virus infections.

 

What are the Risks?

 

There are three critical areas of concern related to virus infections in the orthodontic practice.

 

Interruption of operations. Depending on the type of virus, an infection of a single workstation on an office network can rapidly spread to the server and all the other connected workstations. This can result in decreased performance, errors, or even a shutdown of the entire network. For doctors who operate a near-paperless practice, this can bring operations to an immediate halt.

 

Data corruption or loss. Some viruses can corrupt patient data, result in the data being lost or, in some instances, even transmit patient information to other PCs outside the practice. Just try explaining to HIPAA the loss and/or breach of your patients’ Protected Health Information if you had not taken all available preventive measures!

 

Costly cleanups. The average cost of cleaning an infected PC workstation ranges from $625-$700 each and cleaning a server can cost much more. Both are time-consuming projects. If data is lost or corrupted, the cost of recovery (if it is even possible) can easily be in the thousands of dollars. Given that the average orthodontic office now uses about ten workstations, a network infection can result in thousands of dollars in expenses in addition to the ‘downtime’ involved!

 

The Dilemma

 

The risks to the orthodontic practice are clearly identifiable . . . and very real! In order to protect a network from virus infections, each and every PC that has access to the Internet must have a good anti-virus program in operation at all times. To be completely safe, it is recommended that every workstation on the network, or with access to the network, have the protection since viruses can also be spread by loading data from CDs and other storage media. Anti-virus protection is only as good as the last virus update and maintaining updated anti-virus software is one of the greatest obstacles to providing effectual protection. To be effective, the software must be updated at least daily and have the ability to frequently check for new updates; specifically during periods when repeated outbreaks are taking place.

 

The bigger dilemma’s are:

The Solution

 

The difficulties that are confronted by even the large companies in ensuring that their networks have complete anti-virus protection have been briefly explained. IT administrators agree that the monitoring of end-users and installing updates from the anti-virus software vendor on their PCs is now consuming a major portion of their time. I have also described the problems and risks encountered by orthodontic practices.

 

As CEO of the only company that provides both local area network (‘LAN’) and Internet-based orthodontic management software, finding a workable preventive solution for the virus problems being encountered by our clients was a major priority. (Our Internet-based orthodontic software is virus-proof; clients’ problems are with other Web use such as downloads and E-mail.) For that reason, our company began a time-consuming, exhaustive process of searching for anti-virus software that would meet the aforementioned problems in orthodontic practices, and then testing the software in actual use. The search became frustrating because none of the programs tested solved the issues described in the last three items above. Then, voilã, we discovered Secure Resolutions, Inc. and it Resolution AntiVirus™ Software - The Managed AntiVirus Solution!

 

The literature indicated that Resolution AntiVirus™ was exactly what our company (and those previously mentioned small through large enterprises) had been seeking! Secure Resolutions had developed a product for IT Administrators to manage the security of large networks (250+ workstations) but, after taking advantage of their 30-day evaluation offer, it was obvious that it could also be the anti-virus solution for individual orthodontic practices. After further extensive testing of Resolution AntiVirus™ (copies were purchased for that purpose), it became apparent that it was the product that our company would use internally, and offer to clients. An immediate call to Secure Resolutions’ CEO was made and the two companies entered into an agreement with special arrangements that make it possible to meet the needs of orthodontic practices even better.

 

Here is what Secure Resolutions can do for orthodontists:

 

Secure Resolutions provides an innovative global security management solution that, although designed for the enterprise market, can also be effectively used by orthodontic offices. Their patented Hands-Off technology™ significantly increases security protection while automatically maintaining and updating an anti-virus desktop solution. This decreases both the time and costs associated with providing anti-virus protection for the orthodontic practice.

 

Resolution Anti-Virus™: Centralized anti-virus management protection that includes:

 

 

This Enterprise-level solution is clearly affordable for the average office. As of this writing, two years of protection for a local area network with a dedicated server and 10 workstations costs $945.12 or $42.96 per PC, per year. (This pricing is based on purchasing the software directly from the company’s web site.) Ask yourself if securing your patient data from the described risks is worth $39.38 per month?

 
An Important Point

 

Orthodontists can purchase and download Resolution AntiVirus™ directly from the Secure Resolutions web site at http://www.secureresolutions.com or they can purchase the packaged software at Costco business centers and/or Costco and Amazon web stores. It is not necessary to be a client of my orthodontic software company, Advanced Ortho Systems, to purchase the software. My company has no plans to offer its expanded administration services for Resolution AntiVirus™ outside its own client base.

 

Summary

 

The CEO of Secure Resolutions recently shared an experience he had while talking with the President of a popular University that uses the Resolution AntiVirus™ product. During this interview, the President of the University asked his IT Director what the biggest difference was between the Resolution Anti-virus™ application and the more famous anti-virus applications. The IT Director’s reply was that by using the Resolution Anti-virus™ application he and his co-IT Director felt like a couple of “Maytag repair men” when it came to their anti-virus problems. In other words, the Resolution Anti-virus™ application allowed them to focus their resources on other IT-related work because once the application is installed it self-manages the needs of updating, deploying, managing, and providing full protection against all viruses, worms and Trojan horses. That is exactly what is needed for the orthodontic practice!

 

The Resolution Anti-virus™ application recently received the HIPAA Academy’s Certified Product seal, thereby supplying users with independent confirmation that the product meets HIPAA Privacy and Security standards. This certification, combined with the products automated and self-managing features, make it an especially ideal solution for orthodontic practices and other healthcare entities that do not have in-house IT resources. As a leader in providing sophisticated orthodontic software, our company uses and fully endorses the Resolution Anti-virus™ application. We recommend that orthodontists investigate the product, without delay, as a cost-effective, viable solution for the severe risks their practices are facing from a rapidly growing virus problem. This danger is very real; it can destroy patient data; and it can be extremely expensive to resolve once the infection takes place! Taking immediate preventive measures would be most prudent.

 

1 Douglas Cottle, Chairman, CEO and founder of Secure Resolutions, Inc., was a major contributor to this article. Douglas has extensive experience in concept management and innovative product design, having served as Director of Engineering Services for Network Associates, Inc. and Dr Solomon, where he built many very successful anti-virus software products such as McAfee’s product line. Immediately prior to founding Secure Resolutions, he created the Security Department of FutureCom Global, which focuses on RFID (‘Radio Frequency Identification’) technology.

About the Author:

 

Charles A. Lewis is the Chairman and CEO of CPI Technologies Corporation and CEO of its subsidiary companies; Advanced Ortho Systems, LLC and Advanced Dental Systems, LLC He has many published articles on paperless operations, practice automation, and Internet-based software. Charles lectures at seminars and dental colleges on increasing practice efficiency through paperless operation and using Internet-based management software.