Question

Tamara is behind on her work as an analyst and decides she needs to do some work at home tonight. She copies the files she has been working on (which contain PHI) to a flash drive and drops the flash drive in her purse for later use. When Tamara gets home, the flash drive is missing. Is this a security breach?

A. No, Tamara does not know who has the flash drive or whether the PHI was accessed, so it is not a security breach.
B. Yes, it is a security breach. The data on the flash drive was not encrypted or otherwise protected and there is no way to undo the potential damage because the flash drive is lost.
C. No, Tamara's loss of the flash drive was accidental.
D. No, anyone who picked up the flash drive would not know what it is or how to use it.

Answer 1

B. Yes, it is a security breach. The data on the flash drive was not encrypted or otherwise protected and there is no way to undo the potential damage because the flash drive is lost.

Explanation:

When the flash drive in which the files and which also contains the PHI went missing this is definitely a case of security breach because there is way the files in the flash drive can be protected now. There are no major security methods present in the flash drive so to have an desirable access anyone can access the data in the flash drive.