Windows Server 2003 Support Ends July 14, 2015 – No Longer HIPAA Compliant

If this post feels like groundhog day, then you are probably remembering our previous post about Windows XP being retired and therefore no longer HIPAA compliant and our follow up article about a case where “unpatched and unsupported software” was penalized by OCR as a HIPAA violation.

With those posts as background, the same thing applies to Microsoft ending support for Windows Server 2003 on July 14, 2015. Many of you are probably wondering why I’m talking about a 2003 software that’s being sunset. Could people really still be using this software in healthcare? The simple answer is that yes they are still using Windows Server 2003.

Mike Semel has a really great post about how to deal with the change to ensure you avoid any breaches or HIPAA penalties. In his post he highlights how replacing Windows Server 2003 is a much larger change than it was to replace Windows XP.

In the later case, you were disrupting one user. In the former case, you’re likely disrupting a whole group of users. Plus, the process of moving a server to a new server and operating system is much harder than moving a desktop user to a new desktop. In fact, in most cases the only reason organizations hadn’t moved off Windows XP was because of budget. My guess is that many that are still on Windows Server 2003 are still on it because the migration path to a newer server is hard or even impossible. This is why you better start planning now to move off Windows Server 2003.

I also love this section of Mike Semel’s post linked above which talks about the costs of a breach (which is likely to happen if you continue using unsupported and unpatched software):

The 2015 IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report was just released and the Ponemon Institute determined that a data breach of healthcare records averages $ 398 per record. You are thinking that it would never cost that much to notify patients, hire attorneys, and plug the holes in your network. You’re right. The report goes on to say that almost ¾ of the cost of a breach is in loss of business and other consequences of the breach. If you are a non-profit that means fewer donations. If you are a doctor or a hospital it could mean your patients lose trust and go somewhere else.

I’m sure that some will come on here like they did on the Windows XP post and suggest that you can keep using Windows Server 2003 in a HIPAA compliant manner. This penalty tells me otherwise. I believe it’s a very risky proposition to continue using unsupported and unpatched software. Might there be some edge case where a specific software requires you to use Windows Server 2003 and you could set up some mix of private network/firewalls/access lists and other security to mitigate the risk of a breach of the unsupported software. In theory, that’s possible, but it’s unlikely most of you reading this are in that position. So, you better get to work updating from Windows Server 2003.

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

2 Comments

  • The following link is worth a read.
    http://www.wired.com/2013/10/149481/

    His best recommendation is #3. So everyone wants interoperability??? Really!?

    “3. Once you have your computer configured, ‘never directly connect it to the internet again’. Consider physically disabling the wireless capability, so it doesn’t get turned on by accident.”

  • SGC,
    There’s a balance and risk to all we do. As I’ve heard, the only safe computer is the one that’s turned off and buried deep in the ground. Even then, someone will dig it up.

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