At recent meetings (Iowa Hospital Association and American Hospital Association) the topic of cybersecurity was a hot topic. The chairman of our American Hospital Association group, Phil, shared that his hospital was a victim of cyber theft; they had to pay a ransom and they were offline for 3 to 4 weeks. Phil said it was awful. We’re doing a lot of things here to hopefully avoid this nightmare.
I got this text from “USPS” today - the postal service - and it looked legit. They said they were trying to get a package to me and the address was wrong. Before I filled it out I took a screenshot and sent it to IT and they said “SPAM!” … so I deleted it. These scammers are ruthless so always ask first.
But now I’m paranoid. Not that I’m not always slightly paranoid - because I am - but one slight misstep (opening an email or text) and I could shut the whole place down. I used to tell people that if I had to hunt for my own meat, I’d be a vegetarian in a second - same with thinking about most stuff. If I really analyzed all the stuff I encounter daily or even minute by minute -- I’d be hiding in the southwest corner of my basement under a blanket.
This, however, is no way to lead life - in constant paranoia. Yes, we need to be aware and smart (don’t open attachments willy nilly) and being aware of normal dangers. But if we find ourselves obsessing and making up stories of what could happen … then we will never do anything; and that is no way to live. It’s finding that balance between being Evel Knievel* risky to full-on crazy paranoid. Not as easy as it sounds.
*For the youngsters: Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
