Norse Announced as Founding Member of Medical Identify Fraud Alliance

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Norse, a leading provider of live threat intelligence-based security solutions, today announced that it is a founding member of the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance (MIFA). MIFA is the first cooperative public/private sector effort created specifically to unite all stakeholders in jointly developing solutions and best practices for the prevention, detection and remediation of medical identity fraud. Such fraud by hackers and sophisticated criminal organizations is increasing as the value of Protected Health Information (PHI) increases. Bad actors can sell PHI for financial gain and can also use it to obtain medical goods and services.

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MIFA is dedicated to helping its members better protect their organizations and consumers from medical identity theft via focused direct prevention and resolution mechanisms. The use of an individual's name and identity to fraudulently receive medical services can cause financial, physical and emotional damage and puts pressure on the healthcare and financial ecosystems. Victims include not only those whose identity is stolen but also healthcare providers, insurance companies and taxpayers. The Alliance aims to manage the impact of identity fraud through stakeholder-coordinated research and education as well as by increasing awareness of the issue and developing tools and procedures to prevent such fraud. MIFA also provides leadership to mobilize the healthcare ecosystem, research the problem, guide solution-building and more.

Joining MIFA is an extension of Norse's ongoing interest in the issue of medical identity fraud. In association with SANS, the most trusted and largest source for information security training, Norse recently produced the SANS-Norse Healthcare Cyberthreat Report. Developed with intelligence gathered by the Norse global threat intelligence platform, the report revealed that successful attacks have compromised networks and Internet-connected devices in every healthcare category from providers to clearinghouses. The effects of these compromises and breaches are serious, ranging from theft of patients' social security numbers and home addresses to the manipulation of medical devices used to administer critical care. Poor security also has financial consequences; it places a significant financial burden on patients, drives additional healthcare costs and can lead to massive fines.

"The security of protected health information (PHI) is an important issue that requires the collaboration and commitment of organizations across the healthcare ecosystem," said Ann Patterson, SVP and program director, MIFA. "Research, such as the work done by SANS with the support of Norse, is critical to understanding the issues that will drive both technical and operational progress to fight medical identity theft and fraud.  MIFA is pleased that Norse has joined our organization as a founding member."

"Norse believes it is important to join MIFA as a founding member, as we are very conscious of the state of healthcare IT security at present," stated Sam Glines, Norse CEO and co-founder. "An increasingly alarming number of attacks are being perpetrated against healthcare organizations, and the defenses in place are not nearly enough to protect against them. Organizations like MIFA are vital to help organizations in the healthcare field find the most comprehensive and effective ways to properly protect critical data."

Norse helps organizations identify compromised devices and networks with its global threat intelligence infrastructure, a network of more than six million sensors and next-generation honeypots located in 38 global data centers and 20 major internet exchanges. This infrastructure, which detects malicious IP emanating from compromised organizations and immediately traces it back to the owner, is at the heart of Norse's services:

• The Norse IPViking™ is a patent-pending SaaS service that drastically reduces fraud and improves existing security solutions' ability to detect and block cyberthreats and advanced malware before they enter the network. The service gathers 'dark intelligence' from the internet where bad actors operate and provides a risk-weighted scoring system for improved decision making.
• Norse Darklist™, a live, continuously updated list of the most dangerous IP addresses on the internet, enables organizations to protect their networks from external bad actors. Darklist leverages IPViking to deliver a compilation of about four million addresses, each assigned a risk score, from around the globe and spanning the entire Internet.

On Thursday, March 6, SANS and Norse co-hosted a webinar based on their co-sponsored healthcare IT report to discuss "Exposing Malicious Threats to Healthcare IT." Specifically, Norse and SANS discussed what types of sites, endpoints and devices in the healthcare community are actually infected, stealing information and hosting other malicious activities. More information and the link to the webcast can be found here: https://www.sans.org/webcasts/exposing-malicious-threats-health-care-97320

In addition, on Tuesday, May 20, Norse and MIFA will co-host a webinar to discuss IT compromises in the healthcare world through the Internet of Things. Norse's Jeff Harrell and SANS' Barbara Filkins, who were co-authors of the aforementioned report, will host.

About Norse
Norse is the leading innovator in the live threat intelligence security market. With the goal of transforming the traditionally reactive IT security industry, Norse offers proactive, intelligence-based security solutions that enable organizations to identify and defend against the advanced cyberthreats of today and tomorrow. Norse's synchronous, global platform is a patent-pending infrastructure-based technology that continuously collects and analyzes real-time, high-risk Internet traffic to identify the sources of cyber attacks and fraud. Norse is the only provider of live, actionable, cyberthreat intelligence that enables organizations to prevent financial fraud and proactively defend against today's most advanced cyber threats including zero day and advanced persistent threats. Norse has offices in Silicon Valley, St. Louis, and Atlanta. Visit us online at http://norse-corp.com/. 

About Medical Identity Fraud Alliance
MIFA is dedicated to helping its members better protect their organizations and consumers from medical identity theft and the resulting fraud. Members provide leadership to: mobilize the healthcare ecosystem; cooperate to leverage collective power; research to adequately understand the problem and guide solution building; educate consumers, industry, legislators and regulators; and empower individuals to be the first line of defense in protecting their PHI. More information can be found at http://medidfraud.org/.

Media Contact:
Phil Lanides
Trainer Communications
925-271-8223
[email protected]

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SOURCE Norse