HIMSS16 Begins Monday, Feb. 29

The annual HIMSS conference, focusing on healthcare IT, convenes on Monday. More than 40,000 attendees will be able to attend keynotes from celebrity speakers, participate in seminars and evaluate solutions from hundreds of IT vendors. NCS Technologies will be showcasing our innovative endpoint virtualization (VDI) solutions at Booth #11118.

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In blogs over the past week I have focused on the proven security benefits of zero client endpoints. Zero clients are differentiated from thin clients in several important ways, including the use of the PCoIP network communications protocol, which compresses, encrypts and encodes the entire computing experience at the data center. PCoIP, powered by the Teradici processor, helps deliver a super secure user experience. That is very important in healthcare, where protecting patient records and personal information is mandated by federal laws.

Zero Clients: Low Costs of Ownership

But in telling the security story, it's critical not to lose sight of the other important benefits of endpoint virtualization made possible by Teradici's PCoIP, VMware software and NCS endpoints.

In addition to superior security, zero clients make IT administration much easier and less complex compared to working with thin client PC alternatives. This translates into lower cost of ownership.

Research by Teradici shows that IT administrators love the ease of deployment and configuration when installing zero client endpoints. There is no resident operating system to update, support and no worry about OS compatibility. IT folks appreciate that installing and operating zero clients helps them save time. They like that zero clients are more reliable and low power zero clients costs less to operate. In summary: zero clients are just plain easier to manage and operate. 

HIMSS16: Protecting Medical and Personal Information

HIMSS16, the healthcare IT megashow, opens on Monday. We have blogged steadily about the importance of data security in healthcare, and how showcasing data security solutions is a major focus of HIMSS. Statistics about the vulnerability of data theft in healthcare can be dry and abstract. Headlines and bulletins warning of "large data breaches" can get tiresome.

Often it helps to understand the problem better by personalizing it. So here goes:  

Every member of my family in the past year has been notified that critical personal ID information has been exposed by third parties. You or somebody you know probably has been notified, too. If you work for or with the federal government, bank with JP Morgan Chase, have health insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield, shop at Staples, Target, Home Depot, Michaels or Albertsons, eat out at PF Changs, Jimmy John's or Dairy Queen, or if you have shipped something through a UPS Store, you may have received these warning notices recently.

In the case of my family, soon after the data breach, a serious ID theft attempt was made and we were notified. To combat this threat, we are all locking down our financial lives with serious theft-monitoring protection. We believe the personal information was gathered in one of the healthcare data breaches. So this is personal, this is serious, and this is real.

Healthcare - and all public - organizations need to redouble their efforts to protect client personal information.

It gives me great pride that my employer, NCS Technologies, is leading the efforts lock down healthcare information. NCS offers a complete portfolio of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) hardware and software to protect data. At HIMSS, we are showcasing virtual endpoint solutions.

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The giant HIMSS16 healthcare IT conference opens in Las Vegas in less than a week and NCS Technologies will be there at Booth #11118. NCS is a leader in providing hardware solutions that secure healthcare data. Our virtualized endpoints have revolutionized the traditional thin client-zero client space. Today NCS Cirrus secure endpoint solutions can be seen at work in hospital medical carts (Cirrus DT WiFi), at nurse's stations (Cirrus LT laptop), at a physician's desktop (Cirrus TZ Desktop) - literally anywhere within a medical facility where data security is paramount.

NCS Appliance & Server Engineering at HIMSS16

In addition, NCS is also a leader in another hardware security market - as a designer and manufacturer of appliances and servers. NCS Appliance & Server Engineering provides the platform that many leading Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) use to go to market. NCS designs and builds the appliances that serve as robust platforms for their end customers.

 In particular, we are well known for designing and building high quality cyber security appliances. And our hardware solutions are perfect for software companies building secure solutions for healthcare.

Many ISVs and cyber security software companies will be attending HIMSS16 to showcase their healthcare security solutions and to investigate new market opportunities. We invite these companies to explore with us the many ways that NCS Appliance & Server Engineering can assist your in better serving your healthcare customers through superior hardware solutions.

Healthcare Data Theft - Getting Worse, Not Better

When it comes to protecting healthcare data - patient health records and other personal secrets like Social Security numbers - this is indeed the best of times and the worst of times. It's the best of times because strong privacy regulation is in place and great technology exists to protect patient data. It is the worst of times because, well, data theft seems to be getting worse.

You need only to read the headlines. Like a recent NBC News story that says, "Hacking of Health Care Records Skyrockets". Then there is the story about Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center actually paying ransom to free up its hacked computer systems. Finally, RedSpin just released their 2015 Breach Report which shows that health information hacks are up, up, up!

And just in time, the annual HIMSS conference, the mega healthcare IT show,  kicks off in Las Vegas next week. More than 40,000 attendees will be able to evaluate solutions from hundreds of IT vendors. The point is that powerful data security solutions exist today to protect healthcare providers and customers from breaches and theft. But these solutions must be implemented.

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When it comes to locking down data, computer virtualization is a very powerful tool. IT managers are beginning to implement virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) because it decreases IT complexity and lowers costs - while delivering strong security. 

When it comes to IT in healthcare, the HIMSS conference is the gold standard for healthcare trade shows. This year, HIMSS16 will be held February 29- March 4 in Las Vegas at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, and will be hosting over 40,000 attendees, including clinicians, speakers, and vendors. HIMSS16 boasts more than 300 educational programs and will showcase cutting-edge technology available to the healthcare sector.  NCS Technologies will be at HIMSS16, and will have experts ready to discuss all IT healthcare security concerns at Booth #11118.

When the need arises, war fighters, first responders and industry may leverage existing organizational VDI infrastructure and expertise to meet any challenge, anywhere. NCS Technologies allows for the rapid deployment of IT infrastructure into the field without the weight and footprint of traditional solutions. NCS offers hyper-converged back-end solutions and end points intelligently integrated into rugged transit cases. These cases are capable of supporting large numbers of clients in the field without losing centralized control while simultaneously delivering ease of maintenance. This approach also simplifies the IT aspects of the reset process that must occur upon returning from deployments. Our three solutions are:

What You Can Do WithSecureView

Government analysts looking for superior, hardware-enforced computer security are increasingly turning to SecureView, an approach championed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). SecureView is a multi-level virtual platform which allows a user to run multiple securely isolated environments on a single PC or workstation, provide hardware-enforced security and deliver superior virtualization in the most demanding environments. The virtual platform is made possible by extensive development work by the AFRL, the open source community, Assured Information Security and NCS.

Get Work Done Away From the Office - Securely

Using the power of VDI and innovative zero client laptops from NCS, you can securely get work done even when you're away from the office. It's January and the latest winter megastorm is affecting more than 70 million people, or a third of the U.S. population. Millions of workers away from their office desks are grabbing their laptops whereever they are and using the power of virtualization to get work done securely. IT managers love virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) because it can decrease IT complexity and lower costs. But one of the most important benefits of VDI is strong security. 

With the New Year, journalists will soon begin to publish lists of the biggest data breaches of 2015. As the headlines will attest, every industry and sector is vulnerable and all continue to be hacked.

It is estimated that nearly every American had personal data stolen over the past 24 months.

IT administrators in healthcare tell us they are are focused on making computing more secure, more reliable, less complex and more cost effective - goals that make sense to everyone. 

Healthcare workers rely on computers and networking in nearly every aspect of their jobs. Patient records and scheduling need to be kept up to date and secure. Imagery such as MRIs and X-rays need to be available and accessed from distant servers. Doctors and nurses are constantly on the move and frequently use carts to bring mobile computing - and the latest patient information - directly into each patient area.