County health

A lot of effort and expense in Internet security is directed towards ‘keeping the bad guys out’. This is half the solution. What is overlooked, and equally critical, is how to keep the important data within. Internet content security is about keeping the ‘bad stuff’ on the outside of your network. Data leakage is concerned with keeping the ‘good stuff’ on the inside. Who are the primary culprits on data leakage – your own staff. Read on to see how leaks can occur and what measures you need to be taking to manage your environment.

What is Data Leakage?

There are two primary data leakage elements to be concerned with:

What data you should protect and What constitutes a leak?

Data that is sensitive, or the ‘good stuff’, covers a range of corporate assets such as:

Intellectual Property (IP) – company secrets, product designs, mathematical formulas, research papers, source code, patents, schematics, recipes, proposals, reports, etc. Commercial Information – financial reports, employee payroll, contracts, business plans, acquisition targets, product and marketing launch plans, budgets, customer databases etc. Confidential Information – patient health records, customer financial information, legal contracts, employee resumes and agreements, reprimands, pre-release reports, etc.

How Does Leakage Occur

Emailing data to the wrong recipient or attaching the wrong file to an email. Deliberately emailing information to competitors by an employee. Disclosure of confidential information. Emailing confidential information in an un-encrypted format. Internal staff using webmail or email that is not screened to discuss confidential subjects with external parties.

Data Leakage Is More Common Than You Expect

The issue with data leakage is not how common it is, but its severity, the nature of the data and how it has been leaked. With the span of data and the conduits for ‘leakage’, almost every company can attest to an incident of an internal security breach – willful or accidental. These breaches include loss of information and Intellectual Property theft. Interestingly, the majority of incidents came from inside their organizations.

One IDC study from late 2007 shows that 84% of all data leakage incidents can be attributed to employees. And the methods for stealing data increase – Blackberries, USB key drives, torrent uploads, and instant message file transfers. Companies should be more prepared than ever to monitor and control these activities.

What does Data Leakage look like when it is discovered? Here are some recent media stories. Imagine putting your company name in place of the one listed. For example,

Apple suffered significant embarrassment after two employees revealed secret new product information on their personal blog sites. A statistician employed by the Palm Beach County, Fla., health department inadvertently emailed his colleagues the names of 6,600 locals known to be infected with HIV and AIDS. This was a serious breach of the Federal laws on handling patient information and ensuring patient privacy. Honeywell International Inc. says a former employee has disclosed sensitive information relating to 19,000 of the company’s U.S. employees.

What are the Costs of Data Leakage?

The costs can span many areas. These can be anything from public embarrassment to financial loss, reduced stock equity, loss of competitive advantage or even criminal investigation and prosecution. In the case of Apple, where their employees revealed product information before it was released, the company’s share price plummeted after the leak was revealed. The company was forced to fire the employees involved, resulting in embarrassment, lost productivity and legal costs.

In the incident with the Palm Beach health department, the apparent violation of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) could result in prosecution, not to mention the loss of patient confidence in the department’s ability to protect their information. When the action damages an image or reputation, the financial costs of data leakage are very hard to quantify.

In more tangible matters, like IP loss, a damage assessment can probably be compiled. Consider a hypothetical scenario, where a company’s new MP3 player designs and specifications are leaked to a competitor before it is launched. This breach could undermine the company’s entire business and lose millions of dollars in revenue. Imagine if the Ipod design was leaked – what would this mean to Apple in lost opportunity. The damage can be embarrassment, loss of professional reputation and possibly boost in the competitor’s market advantage.

Conclusion

Data Leakage is real and it starts on the inside. We often spend so much time building a wall around our enclaves that we do not consider risk internally. Unfortunately, real incidents are telling us we should look inward first and then outward. How secure do you feel about your data leakage prevention efforts?

We work with companies to assure their data and messaging is in compliance and secure. Our solutions are state of the art, quick to implement, cost effective and provide the comfort to know your data is secure. A phone discussion with our staff is a great way to assess your environment and what would be the best action plan. Visit our website Enclave Data to learn more.

You have the responsibility to maintain your company’s digital environment. With the right tools, you can now also have the control to assure compliance and protect your company’s assets.

Leakage involves distribution methods where data could be released – accidentally or stolen.

By: Dan Schutte

Magazines and books abound that tell you how to take care of your health with diet and exercise. There are diets for almost every medical problem, too. But how often do you see anything on how to maintain your sexual health? Rarely. From a leading sex therapist, here are 10 ways to stay sexy and keep sexually active.

1. Use fantasy to keep your sexual interest alive. Even if you don’t have a partner, indulge in fantasy. It seems that women who stop thinking about sex can have a very difficult time restarting. Keep your sexual desire alive through fantasy.

2. Self-pleasure is an excellent way to stay in sexual shape. Many women would overcome inhibitions and learn how to have orgasm more easily with a partner if they would self-pleasure regularly. There are many books and sexual aids to help have better and easier orgasm.

3. Be sure your birth control method fits your lifestyle. If you have sex frequently, using a condom is probably not the right choice for you, because it has a failure rate of ____. Talk to your physician about the options available to you.

4. Do your Kegel exercises. Kegel exercises strengthen pelvic floor muscles, which helps the overall health of the bladder, uterus and vagina. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles can help a woman achieve stronger orgasm.

5. Use lubricant that is glycerin-free. Glycerin is an artificial chemical that is very much like sugar in its structure. Sugar is an ideal environment for yeast to grow; in women, if there is too much yeast an infection can be the result. You can find glycerin-free lubricants online and even in your friendly neighborhood drugstore; you just have to check the label.

6. Watch the hormones. Many women overdo or under use hormones for good sexual health. The current guidelines state that women who are experiencing symptoms of menopause should use the smallest amount of hormone replacement possible for the briefest amount of time. Using hormones in this way may have certain cognitive benefits, too. But using hormones in large quantity beyond the recommended time can end up causing more harm than good.

7. Stay healthy. Many chronic illnesses have sexual side effects. Women with diabetes, for example, may experience vaginal dryness and difficulty achieving orgasm due to neuropathy, or nerve damage to the genitals. Besides, staying at a trim weight, exercising, and eating properly can all help you stay sexy longer.

8. Experiment. Try a new sensation, like using an ice cube on your lover, or letting your lover drink wine from your lips. Use a blindfold. Tie your lover up with crepe paper for fun. Buy a costume (summer is a good time to find them on sale on the Internet) and wear it for fun.

9. Practice safe sex. There’s nothing like a genital herpes outbreak to put a damper on your passionate weekend plans. And some STDs are believed to cause cancer or permanent damage to the reproductive system. Be sure to know your partner, limit your partners, and use condoms, every time.

10. Take care with your genitals. Beware of anything that could cause them harm, like the so-called G-spot shots that doctors promise will increase sexual satisfaction. This procedure is untested and unnecessary. If you really want to stimulate your G-spot, read about it in a book and try it manually, and / or buy a toy designed for this purpose.

Maintaining sexual health is important if you want to have an active sex life now and for as long as you wish. Sex is a wonderful gift that can bring you pleasure for years, if you know how to take care of yourself.

By: Stephanie Buehler, Psy.D.

Making the decision to move to or place one or both of your parent’s in an assisted living or elder care center is very difficult. It’s an emotional time when the senior needs someone full or part time to meet their basic daily needs and it’s time to move out of their home. What can make the decision even more difficult is that there are thousands of assisted living options to choose from and at a time when you most want to make the right decision, it can be difficult to know what that is. Here are some tips on choosing the right option for you and your family.

You won’t be able to get a conclusive feeling about any assisted living center without visiting in person. Make sure to visit a few times, during different times of the day and week, and make some observations. Do the attendants seem busy and rushed? Are the residents active? Are people friendly? Is the center clean and attractive? Nobody is going to know what living in the center is like better than those that have already made the place their home! During your visit, make sure that you speak to some of the residents and find out how they enjoy living there. Also speak to the staff and get a feel for if they like working there. Not only will unhappy staff indicate that the company may be neglectful but also that they may not enjoy working with seniors and so, not provide proper elder care.

Next go online and find out if there have been any reports filed against the company. You can do this by visiting the Better Business Bureau website and the county court records or state health department reports. The Better Business Bureau will list complaints and issues that people have had with the center in the past and the county court records will tell you if there have been any lawsuits against the center or the staff that has worked there. This will provide you with information that you would not be able to determine by visiting the center.

Lastly, make sure you like the place or that the elder in need of care likes the place. If they don’t, stop your search immediately and try to find another that they will enjoy more. There are many different options and so there’s a perfect fit somewhere, it may just take a little patience to find it!

By: Sharon Elrod

The National Marine Fisheries Service lists China as supplying 70 percent of America’s tilapia. China and Thailand are the largest suppliers of imported shrimp. After traveling over two thousand miles throughout Mainland China and spending five days on the Yangtze River, I have become alarmed at the condition of our imported seafood from Asia.

The waterways of China and Hong Kong are so polluted with industrial chemicals, farm effluents, and human waste that seafood exporters must rely on antibiotic treatment just to keep the fish alive. I witnessed several bloated and decaying bodies, both human and animal, floating down the Yangtze. The Yangtze River empties into the waterways from which much of the exported seafood is fished. Seafood from Asian Fish Farms is no healthier than seafood caught in the wild. Thai and Chinese fishponds are notoriously filthy and pumped full of antibiotics. The FDA discovered the presence of the powerful antibiotic, chloramphenicol, in the imported Asian shrimp. Studies link the antibiotic chloramphenicol, a carcinogen, to anemia and leukemia, especially in children. In a recently published article, CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews quotes food safety expert Caroline Smith DeWaal, “Chloramphenciol is a serious problem in the human food supply,” she said. “It’s like taking a drug that’s not prescribed.”

Catfish imports from China are another serious concern for the presence of antibiotics. Flouoroquinolone antibiotics, which the FDA has banned for use in food, are showing up in tests conducted on catfish imported from China. “Aside from the threats to health, the imports have also been a threat to the economy of the Mississippi Delta, which provides more than three-fourths of the catfish eaten in the United States,” emphasized a report aired on National Public Radio. An influx of cheap imports from Asia is putting the American catfish farmers out of business.

Since only about one percent of our imported seafood is monitored by the FDA, most of the contaminated seafood ends up on our dinner tables.

Our imported fruits and vegetables are not fairing any better. According to an Associated Press analysis of FDA records, border inspectors consistently reject Mexican peppers and chilies. Ten percent of the rejected peppers and chilies were infected with salmonella. Since the FDA inspects less than one percent of all foreign food entering the country, ten percent of one percent is alarming. Mexican imports are disturbing sources of concern, not only from salmonella and E. coli, but also from the heavy pesticides the Mexican Agricultural Industry use in growing produce. It is referred to as “the circle of poison.” Chemical companies sell Mexican Agrifarms pesticides that are banned in this county. There are no regulations in the United States for the exportation of banned or unregistered pesticides. Little, if any, oversight exists for the use of these pesticides on the fruits and vegetables grown by the Mexican agricultural farms. With fifty percent of the imported fruits and vegetables in the United States coming from Mexico, we have an intolerable problem of polluted food.

Because the FDA is underfunded and undermanned, it rests on the consumer to force change.

First, don’t buy any fresh or frozen seafood from Asia. Support your local fisheries and fishermen. Fish farms in the United States typically use clean water, no antibiotics and no chemicals. If your local grocery store only carries Asian imports, request fish and seafood from the United States, or safer imports from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for example. World trade is not going away. Just make sure you buy the safer imports.

Second, limit any fruits and vegetables from Mexico to reduce pesticide ingestion. Buy locally, if possible. Shop your local farmers and farm markets. Buy organic fruits and vegetables. Plant your own garden.

You are the author of your own health. Protect your well being with wholesome safe foods. Don’t permit the source of a food to become a danger to your health.

Sandy Powers
http://www.organicforhealthsite.com

By: Sandy Powers

If you suffer from anal itching, don’t be embarrassed. Surprisingly, you’ll discover that you are not the only one. Anal itching, medically called ‘pruritus ani,’ is a common ailment many people suffer from. It affects hundreds of thousands of people across the United States.

The main symptom is the irritation of the skin. This problem is most severe around the of the rectum, or anus. This irritation causes a serve desire to scratch. It is important to note that the problem is mostly related to increases from pressure, moisture and rubbing caused by clothing and sitting. At worst, anal itching causes major discomfort that often is accompanied by burning and soreness. The you scratch, the worse it gets. This problem can lead to more serious problems. Anal itching can be caused by many things. The website, WebMD, says, “The problem can be caused by: irritating chemicals in the foods we eat, such as spices, hot sauces, and peppers. Other problems that cause anal itching include pinworms, hemorrhoids and tears of the anal skin (known as fissures).”

Anal itching affects people of all ages. Regardless of your body type, age or health. This problem is occurs equally in men and women.

Home treatment for rectal itching depends on the cause of the itching. But because anal itching can be caused by so many things, it could be a long process to determine the source. My absolute best advise is to go see a medical professional. But if you are like 44 million other Americans, by not having paid healthcare., you may not have the funds. If you live in the Washington, DC area and you don’t have paid health insurance, go to Unity Health Care. They will work with you if you have no money or have a small income. Their services are set on a sliding scale.

If you don’t trust doctors and are interested in some home remedies, give this a try.

Poor hygiene is a considered a cause for anal itching. Try cleaning the area gently with water-moistened cotton balls, a warm washcloth, or premoistened towelettes, such as Tucks or “baby wipes.” A mild ointment, such as A+D Ointment or Desitin, can be applied lightly to help soothe the skin and protect it against further irritation.

Try staying away from scented or colored toilet paper or scented soaps. Remember to buy white, unscented toilet paper. Don’t use scented soaps, which can irritate your skin. Apply an ointment that contains 1% hydrocortisone. Do not use other steroid creams on this sensitive area of your body; skin damage can occur. Hydrocortisone cream should not be used for longer than 7 to 10 days without talking with your doctor. Note: Do not use the cream on children younger than age 2 unless your doctor tells you to. Do not use in the rectal or vaginal area in children younger than age 12 unless your doctor tells you to.

Try not to use other steroid creams on this sensitive area . You can thin out your skin and cause breakage. Then you have an entirely new set of problems. Always follow the directions on the hydrocortisone cream’s box. It’s advised to not use Benadryl cream, which contain antihistamines. Yet, you can take Benadryl allergy oral tablets. Many people have noted great success with the product. And remember taking Benadryl allergy can make you drowsy.

Another issue is sweating. With anal itching caused by excessive sweating, avoid wearing tight-fitting underwear and wear cotton, rather than synthetic, undergarments. Cotton is a natural fiber and is breathable. Talcum powder tis also another option. Please do not use cornstarch. There have been cases of a skin infection. Some medical professionals and websites ask you to dry your rectal area with a hair dryer set on the low setting before applying talcum powder. Whatever you do, do not rub the irritated area. If you don’t have any of these things, take unsented paper towels or toliet paper and place it your crack, just in front of your anus. This will allow circulation between your butt cheeks and help the area dry.

To control itching To control itching, try the following:

Break the itch-scratch cycle. The more you scratch, the longer the problem will be around. The problem can be worse at night, take an oral antihistamine before bedtime. Give taking a warm sitz bath a try. Do this three times a day, after a each bowel movement, or as needed. Avoid caffines, sodas, beer, liquior, excessive amounts of vitamin C, spicy foods for at least 2 weeks. If you reintroduce these items into your diet one at a time, you can see what causes the proble – if its food or beverage related.
Get your stress under control.

By: Reginald D Johnson