BitsnBytes Fall2023

Bits & bytes Fall 2023 2 From the Desk of Ron Gordon New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. 3635 Quakerbridge Road, Suite 35 Mercerville, NJ 08619 Tel: 609-838-5488 | Fax: 609-838-5489 njamhaa@njamhaa.org www.njamhaa.org Copyright © 2023 New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. Reproduction in any manner, except as authorized by the Copyright Act of 1976, is prohibited. All rights reserved. Editor in Chief .......................... June A. Noto Editors ................................... Shauna Moses ................................... Debra L. Wentz, Ph.D. Writers........................................ June A. Noto ..................................................... Ron Gordon .................................................... Arthur Powis ........................................................ Thom Price Graphic Designer................ Farrah Fabrigas STAFF CONTRIBUTORS N e w J e r s e y A s s o c i a t i o n o f M e n t a l H e a l t h a n d A d d i c t i o n A g e n c i e s , I n c . IT Project Your guide to tomorrow N J A M H A A BUNDLED SERVICES Block of 200 Hours: $17,543 ($87.71/hour) Block of 100 Hours: $8,892.00 ($89.82/hour) Block of 75 Hours: $7,231.00 ($96.42/hour) Block of 50 Hours: $5,259.00 ($105.17/hour) If you are interested in our rates for a block a time of more than 200 hours or less than 50 hours, please contact Ron Gordon RGordon@NJAMHAA.org As we are about finalize this issue of Bits and Bytes , a few important cybersecurity items have popped up in the news, one being an attack on credit unions that is linked to vulnerabilities in Citrix networking products . The U.S. Health Department issued an alert to hospitals about this issue and recommended patching products immediately. Another story closer to home and our industry is the attack on two New Jersey hospitals that shut down services due to ransomware attacks. Seeing this story and thinking about a hospital getting hacked is scary. When I think about hospital IT departments, I think of it being this large group that have trained hospital staff and have sophisticated monitoring systems, recovery systems and plans. I realize that all it takes is one email getting to someone who clicks on it, but it is still shocking. This is a red flag for all of us that we all need be vigilant because we are all at risk — and that risk is getting greater every day. Finally, I just saw this story and had to add it. The company responsible for hacking a company working with healthcare technologies is saying that the company they hacked is not acting professionally in negotiations! How crazy is this?! Over many years, the IT Project has had IT conferences with a focus on cybersecurity. At the last conference, we had Michael Geraghty, the State of New Jersey’s Chief Information Security Officer and Director of the NJ Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, discuss current threats and suggestions on how to protect your systems and what to do if you get hacked. At the conference, we also had Paul Lubiak, Senior Vice President, IT & Business Transformation Services, SERV Behavioral Health System, Inc., share what happened when the agency he works for got hit with ransomware. My hat’s off to June Noto, NJAMHAA’s Vice President, IT, HR and Administrative Services, who saw the threat long before it exploded as it is now and started to offer conferences mostly dedicated to cybersecurity. The warning signs are out there, and we all need to prepare with the thought “not if, but when” . One of the most important pieces in protecting your systems is training staff on what to look for in emails and on websites and understand that they are the most important line of defense to help protect the companies where they work. The IT Project is here to help you. If you need information, or want to discuss or need help implementing technology, please contact us. IT Project Help Desk ITHelpDesk@NJAMHAA.org 609-838-6064 Ron Gordon Ron Gordon IT Project Director