In my neighborhood, just up the street and around the corner, lives a kid who is the typical American computer nerd. Well, almost typical. He doesn't wear glasses and he drives a bullet bike to his college classes. He once demonstrated to me his ability to hack past the Windows login screen on my computer--with my permission, of course.

On occasion I've asked him to help me with my computers and wireless network at home. One time I dropped by Walmart and purchased a wireless router--not the most expensive model but not the cheapest either. Helping me do the setup this kid mentioned to me that hacking this particular manufacturer of routers was a cakewalk. Why? Because it's the one of the most popular manufacturers and every nerdy kid in every American town had first, figured out how to hack it, and two, boasted of their achievement on the Internet for every other nerdy kid to see. 

As a result my nerdy friend could gain access to every wireless signal in the neighborhood. Hacking someone else's wireless network made certain he never had to pay for his own. While he's not the malicious type, I'm sure he also had the ability to scan every file on my computer, too--a fact I'm sure he was not willing to discuss.

So my point is this, my friends: At Curve Dental we use the same security hardware and parameters employed by banks and the largest on-line retailer in the world. Nerdy kids, like my neighborhood buddy, as well as more sophisticated hackers don't hack into our system willy nilly. The security is not Walmart-grade; it's commercial-grade.

Is the security hack-proof? Probably not. If a hacker really, really, really wanted to gain access I suppose they could spend the months to figure it out. But, as I discussed in a post in my blog, the motivation to spend that kind of time and money must have some sort of grand motivation. And gaining access to dental records, after months of effort, just isn't that rewarding or fun.

Out-of-date client-server software requires a fat server. And if the server is connected to the Internet (and most are) it's "protected" by a firewall. If the firewall is Walmart grade (not to demean Walmart, because I shop there often), then you have a problem. That's why I advocate for the permanent removal of servers from every practice. They represent a big juicy target for thieves and magnet for crashes and maintenance dollars. With cloud-based dental software, like Curve Dental, you don't need a server--even for digital imaging!

 You can learn more about data security by chatting with one of our dental software consultants at 888-910-4376. Call today to learn more or visit our website.