Credit Card Info on File? Bad idea.  

Category: Security

By: Brandon Barney, CISSP

Your office probably has patient credit and debit cards on file for easy payments, refunds, and chargebacks. You likely keep those cards in easy-to-access spreadsheets, word processing programs, online accounts, printed binders, or e-wallets for future reference.

Let me tell you why that is a really bad idea.

Although electronically storing those numbers seemingly accelerates office procedures, in an unencrypted state, credit card information could seriously jeopardize your practice.

If data is stored without proper encryption, it makes the work of a hacker (stealing patient information) easier. If security precautions are made and credit card information is not stored, hackers may avoid spending the extra time hacking your network and move on to the next less secure office.

Hackers use unencrypted credit ca...