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Medicinski Glasnik, Volumen 6, Number 2, August 2009
private data. The fact that majority of participants
from both groups do it on an exceptional basis or
very rarely implies their awareness of this major
security issue.
Furthermore, the Internet is a well known
source of malicious software. Medical information
systems are becoming more and more vulnerable
to attacks by malicious software (6).
Unaware and unprotected portable PC users who
have access to a medical information system also
pose a security threat. The only participant from
the School of Medicine who has no security software
on his portable PC is “secured” by using the
LINUX operating system, whereas the majority
of the persons tested have at least 2 types of security
software installed on their portable PCs. Even
though the reason for such consciousness might
be just self-protection, it results in a reduced risk
not only for the user and his portable PC, but also
for the environment in which they operate.
The frequency distribution of making security
backups in both groups is very low. Only 4
participants from the School of Medicine and 6
from the School of Electrical Engineering make
security backups of their important documents
once a week or more frequently. The difference
in answers on questions about security experts’
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terminology between groups investigated was the
only difference found between them.
It seems that information about the importance
of backups and instructions on how to do
backup should be presented to each PC user. It
is considered to be even more important for users
having a mobile device because their portable
PCs are not (all the time) part of the secured
corporate ICT system. Those instructions should
come in the same box with portable PCs (7).
The study shows that users’ awareness on security
risks plays an important role in securing the
data (8,9). Participants did present great knowledge
in this matter and their systems are secured.
The number of portable PC users is growing
every day, as well as their impact on the security
of surrounding ICT systems. Although based on a
rather small sample, the results of the pilot study
may serve as a starting point for further research
in security matters in systems consisting of portable
PCs and their users, as well as in their security
behavior in different environments.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT / DISCLOSURE
6.
7.
8.
9.
Competing interests: none declared.
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