Network, Email, & Computing

Wireless Access

As of February 2016, BIDMC has created a new wireless network for staff. The new network is called "bidmc-staff". You will be requiring to enter your BIDMC username and password.

You should see a prompt to accept the wireless certificate the first time that you connect to the staff network. click Accept and you should be connected.

Note that if your password changes, you will have to update it on your mobile devices by removing the wireless network and adding it again.

Email

BIDMC email addresses end with @bidmc.harvard.edu. You can access your email through the Intranet Portal, by clicking "Email" on the right sidebar.

Federal, state and other agency regulations and our own BIDMC standards require protected health information, personal information and sensitive financial/business or research information be secured when being transmitted over the Internet.

When in doubt, do not send PHI, PI or any sensitive information via email. Consult with the Office of Compliance and Business Conduct if you have any questions or doubt.

  • Emails sent from one BIDMC email address to another stays within our own network so the information is automatically protected.

  • To proactively secure email with sensitive information going outside the BIDMC network, insert "#secure" at the beginning of the subject line. This will cause the message to be encrypted. A link to a secure site called ProofPoint will be included in the message. The recipient will need go to this site to read the message. No special software is required, but the recipient will need to set up an account the first time they do this.

  • BIDMC has increased the use of Proofpoint to provide back-up security if you forget to use "#secure" and inadvertently send sensitive information through the Internet from a BIDMC email address. Email encryption is triggered when Proofpoint identifies certain keywords, phrases or expressions that include PHI, PI or sensitive information in an email. As with “#secure”, these emails are automatically encrypted before they are sent. The recipient will follow the same Proofpoint process outlined above to retrieve the message.

  • “Secure File Transfer” is the preferred secure option for emailing large documents. The direct URL is https://transfer.bidmc.harvard.edu/.

In order to access your email on your mobile device or desktop application, you will need to add a "Microsoft Exchange" account. When prompted, you may need to enter "mail.caregroup.org" as the Internal and External Server. You will need to enter your BIDMC username and password for authentication.

Encryption for Privately Owned Laptops

In July 2012, BIDMC announced an expanded Mobile Device Security Initiative to increase employee awareness of the importance of securing and encrypting laptops and smartphones. The Mandatory Encryption Initiative requires anyone accessing the BIDMC network with a mobile device – regardless of personal or institutional ownership - to secure the device.

A commercial product that is available and providing Full Disk Encryption which is the standard that is recommended for ePHI (Electronic Protected Health Information) and PII (Personally Identifiable Information) is being offer by Symantec:

Symantec Drive Encryption (Full disk encryption software)

Online Subscription Cost for 1 year: $110 http://buy.symantec.com/estore/categoryDetailPage/skuType/Product/productCode/PGP-DREEXP-LEM_Vx_12MO_PC/