Recent Celeb Photo Scandal Causes Increasing Concern Over Cloud Security

The recent scandal involving dozens of risque photos of celebrities is hardly “new” news at this point, but it has certainly created quite a bit of buzz around Apple and the security (or lack thereof) of the iCloud service. The photo hacks have occurred at a pretty inopportune time for Apple, since the new iPhone 6 model has been released, and this new model will contain Apple’s iOS 8 HealthKit platform to help consumers collect and analyze personal health data.

Although the platform sounds like something that Americans will welcome, since it seems both exceptionally convenient and thorough, privacy has been a top concern among Apple developers and consumers alike. And the celeb photo scandal, which (experts theorize) was only possible on such a huge scale because the photos were stored in Apple’s iCloud platform, is only exacerbating security concerns.

Although Apple certainly has a lot to worry about in the coming weeks, other companies that handle a significant amount of sensitive consumer information will likely be put under the microscope as well. The healthcare industry, in particular, causes a great deal of consumer anxiety not because the programs used in this industry are more vulnerable to hacking, but because such a large amount of (very) personal data is stored in the programs used by doctor’s offices, hospitals, and pharmacies.

Technology has proven to be invaluable in the healthcare industry, and researchers are constantly developing new techniques and programs that can make everything from performing surgeries to detecting prescription drug interactions more accurate than ever before; nevertheless, all of these benefits involve storing and tracking personal data.

This concern over privacy and security may be fairly new for consumers, but those involved in the healthcare industry have long been dedicated to developing secure programs. The top priority here may not be to develop even more security precautions, but rather, to let customers know that a great deal of security measures are already in place.

“Since we focus only on pharmacy point-of-sale solutions, we have to make sure that everything from our POS systems, to our support infrastructure, and even our employees, follow the latest in HIPAA and PCI compliance to ensure we’ve taken the necessary steps to provide a secure environment for our customers and their patients,” says Mike Gross of Retail Management Solutions.