PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Health Research Institute’s Top 10 health industry issues in 2010 puts healthcare cost control at the head of the list as the overarching theme for the year ahead.

This firm wrote that this coming year’s top issues are:

• Focus on fraud and mistakes: Healthcare organizations will need to tighten controls and raise the bar on compliance as the government goes after fraud and mistakes in 2010. Health reform is banking on as much as $1.6 billion in savings from healthcare fraud prevention and recovery to bend the curve on cost growth. The Obama Administration has boosted its fraud and abuse budget for 2010 by 50 percent, and a significant portion is dedicated to prosecution and enforcement. Pharmaceutical execs now face jail time for off-label marketing violations. CMS’ Recovery Audit Contractor program is analyzing patient and financial records for evidence of overpayments and demanding restitution.

Read full article on HealthImaging.com here: http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=19995:pwc-healthcare-in-2010-will-focus-on-cost-control-delivery-models

This week we saw the first HIPAA related lawsuit. email2 continues to serve the medical industry extremely well with its Secure Delivery Platform, but obviously more needs to be done in the very near future.

This case marks the first action by a state attorney general involving violations of HIPAA since the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which authorized state attorneys general to enforce HIPAA.

Read full article on HealthImaging.com here http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=20197:connecticut-ag-uses-hitech-to-sue-over-patient-data-breach

We will presenting at this year’s IBM Lotusphere from January 17 to 21 2010 in Orlando Florida. IBM will be announcing our recent partnership to continue integration of IBM Lotus Notes with the email2 Security Platform including an exclusive look at the feature set for 2010.

Please come see us at the email2 booth!

January 04, 2009: Version Release 1.9.3660

New code version released this week to all PENs. Complete details of new features and improvements available here: http://www.email2.com/whats_new/. Contact us or your reseller for release schedule to your Private Email Network (PEN).

Production target date: January 14, 2010.

Web Client

• NEW: New ‘For Your Eyes’ only feature unique to the email2 platform now implemented in the secure Webmail client, Outlook Toolbar and secure Mobile Clients. When creating a new secure email2 message, a new message option appears in the ‘Extra Security Options’ to set the message ‘For Your Eyes Only’. This feature requires the recipients to either enter their PEN Password, or a unique Password set by the sender, every time the message is to be viewed. This feature is useful, for example, for Senior Executives sharing their mailbox with their assistant but still want to selectively keep some conversations private, using Outlook, the webmail client or mobile clients. It is also useful for added protection when the users leave their PC unattended: no one else can read your messages unless they have access to the password set. Finally, combined with the real time tracking, this feature increases non-repudiation by ensuring the the recipients are actually reading your messages (manual intervention required to read the message).
• NEW: New ‘Print Message’ functionality with three new icons added to the top right of the print message window: (1) ‘Expand / Collapse’ the Message header information (From:, To:, etc.), (2) ‘Print Message’ and (3) ‘Close Window’.
• IMPROVEMENT: Label function change “Repling Enabled’ to ‘ReplyFreeze’ and Forwarding Enabled to ‘ForwardFreeze’. No functionality changes.
• IMPROVEMENT: If the user is registered and enters the wrong password, the error message prompts the user to trigger the ‘Forgot Password’ function immediately.
• IMPROVEMENT: Guest users cannot edit the subject line of a secure message on reply.
• IMPROVEMENT: When the message selected in message list is ‘recalled’, the reply / reply all / forward buttons are now disabled (greyed out).

Outlook Toolbar

• NEW: New ‘For Your Eyes’ only feature unique to the email2 platform now implemented in the secure Outlook Toolbar.
• NEW: ‘Default Secure’ and advanced Data Leak Prevention now applied to both secure and non-secure email message pre-emptively directly in Outlook.
• IMPROVEMENT: Label function change “Replying Enabled’ to ‘ReplyFreeze’ and Forwarding Enabled to ‘ForwardFreeze’. No functionality changes.
• IMPROVEMENT: Workflow improvement with replies to Notification Messages. Now displays proper warning message to sender that one or more recipients replied to the Notification Message instead of replying securely using the Web Client. Sender option allows to send a friendly reminder to the recipient(s) to use the secure Private Email Network instead of basic unsecure e-mail.
• IMPROVEMENT: Delivery Slip in Toolbar now shows Message IDs.
• IMPROVEMENT: Better e-mail alias management and auto-detection functions.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue with the ‘Save As’ dialog window the second time the user retrieved an attachment. The dialog was displayed behind Outlook and not visible to the user.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue where the ‘Open Folder’ dialog was displayed twice when downloading multiple attachments.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue where saving an attachment on the local computer could create files without proper file extensions. This was more evident for users with Windows Explorer using the option to ‘hide’ known extensions.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue with the name of the attachment downloaded. If the file already exists the Toolbar asked for confirmation to override the file; however, the file was downloaded with a different name using a sequential numbering method.
• IMPROVEMENT: The Preferences dialog has been simplified. There are now two separate menu options for Preferences and email2 Accounts.
• IMPROVEMENT: Now email2 Dialogs handle correctly the icon in the Windows Task Bar when Outlook doesn’t have the focus. Also, this fixes the issue where the Outlook icon would disappear in the ALT+TAB Windows dialog.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue where the Spell Checker feature in Outlook would go over the original message replied-to/forwarded thread.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed issue where the Outlook option ‘Close original message on reply / forward’ did not work when the Toolbar was installed.
• IMPROVEMENT: Added more log information to resolve potential activation issues with Exchange accounts.
• IMPROVEMENT: Added new setting to remove the Outlook flags “Read receipt request” and “Delivery receipt request” for outgoing email2 messages. These options are redundant for email2 because of the Tracking feature. Disabling this feature fixes an issue with Exchange accounts where this option was causing problems for receivers not being able to retrieve the message.

PEN Admin Console

• NEW: New Memory Cache module increases load speeds and transactions by 300%.
• NEW: Default Secure Message functionality, now on a per Member basis, the ability to specify the every new message created, replies or forward be sent secure using the Default PEN of the Outlook Toolbar. This new feature ‘defaults’ all new messages created in Outlook to be secure but does not ‘enforce’ it.
• NEW: Default Secure Message functionality now includes pre-programmed algorithm such as US Social Security and Credit Card Numbers. Blacklist or Default Secure messages containing any of these text strings.
• NEW: Message Content Blacklist / Default Secure functionality, with the ability to ‘blacklist’ keywords or algorithm in a regular expression text area. Blacklist ensures that no secure messages are sent containing innapropriate content. Default Secure ensures that all messages containing specific content are sent secure when using Outlook.
• NEW: The following Web Client messages are now editable on a per PEN basis under the ‘General Settings’ of the PEN Admin Console: ‘Registration Confirmation Message’ displayed when the user succesfully registers with the PEN, ‘Quick Registration Message’ displayed at the top of the registration form for new users when ‘Quick Registration’ is enabled, ‘Full Registration Message’ displayed at the top of the registration form for new users when ‘Quick Registration’ is disabled.
• NEW: Certification level for every PEN now displayed in the main window of the PEN Admin Console.
• NEW: New buttons added under the ‘Member Profile’ window now allows to re-send syetm notification messages such as: e-mail alias confirmation, resend PEN Invitation, PEN Activation, PEN Registration Confirmation, Outlook Activation.
• IMPROVEMENT: Message ID now shows in Delivery Slip for Recalled Messages.
• IMPROVEMENT: New button under the Member Profile allows to resend the e-mail alias confirmation message. Button only shows when an alias is selected in the list. If the Master e-mail address is selected, it resends the Invitation to the Private Email Network.

PEN Server Console

• N/A

email2 Certificate Authority Service (e2CAS)

• N/A

A new survey shows 80 percent of health care organizations reported a data breach within the last year. Perhaps even more disturbing, IT professionals claim management support to protect patient privacy as a priority is lacking.

Read full article: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/EHealth-Records-Privacy-Diagnosis-Poor-574935/?kc=EWKNLDAT10222009STR5

By Linda Tucci, Senior News Writer 17 Sep 2009 | SearchCIO.com

Before developing an email archiving strategy, a CIO should review which regulatory and legal regulations apply to his organization and then start building a policy. That means sitting down with the legal team, auditors and stakeholders from business units such as human resources and finance who are intimately familiar with legal requirements in their specialty.

Another key is creating a unilateral policy, without exceptions. One story on email archiving strategies tells the story of a CIO who ran into trouble when granting exceptions to some executives who didn’t like the purge cycle of the company policy.

Read full article: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid182_gci1368549,00.html

July 31, 2009: Version Release 1.8.1461

New code version released this week to all PENs. Complete details of new features and improvements available here: http://www.email2.com/whats_new/. Contact your reseller for release schedule to your Private Email Network (PEN).

Production target date: July 31 2009.

Web Client

• NEW: Brand new Voice & Video player and recorder, bigger buttons to accomodate all ages and easier to understand set-up instructions.
• NEW: After sending message and back to the Inbox, the top gray area now shows the following options: ‘Secure message sent [View] [Recall] [Clear].’
• IMPROVEMENT: Change the label ‘Check New’ to ‘Refresh’ in the top left section of the web client.
• IMPROVEMENT: ‘Save draft’ workflow changes now include removing any attachments previously selected on ‘Save Draft’. This removes the possibility of starting a message on one computer and selecting files only available on the current computer and finishing the message later on a different computer where the attachments originally selected are not present on the latter for upload on ‘Send’.
• IMPROVEMENT: Changed workflow whereby if a recipients replies to a message but removes the sender from the conversation, the newly created message is now treated as a forwarded message instead of a reply, and displaying to that effect in the message tracking.
• IMPROVEMENT: Changed the Search button Tooltips for the Attachment Library Tab to ‘Search filename’ and for the Members Tab to ’Search member e-mail address’.
• IMPROVEMENT: Changed the following labels in the message list tracking for recalled messaged to ‘Recalled’, tracking not shared to ‘Not Shared’ and if disabled to ‘Disabled’.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an issue where when returning to the Mailbox Tab from a different Tab, the Delivery Slip display was of the last viewed message and not necessarily of the first message available in the Inbox.
• IMPROVEMENT: Tracking in the Delivery Slip for discarded message in the Trash Can displayed tracking information for the wrong message. Workflow has been changed to show in the tracking grid ‘Tracking Unavailable’ for discarted draft messages.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an issue where if the attachment had more than 25 characters and more than one period (.) in the filename the extension was wrong.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an issue whereby recipients of a conversation are now placed in the proper field (e.g. TO:, CC:) as per original message instead of all in the TO: field.
• IMPROVEMENT: Tracking now shows more actions that the user performs (e.g. instead of ‘private’ on a forward it now displays who the user forwarded the message if they are the owner of the action)
• IMPROVEMENT: The message tracking module now shows every recipients (e-mail address) it was forwarded to.
• IMPROVEMENT: Compose page and Invite page now have the cursor first appear in the TO: field on load.

Outlook Toolbar

• NEW: Brand new Voice & Video player and recorder, bigger buttons to accomodate all ages and easier to understand set-up instructions.
• IMPROVEMENT: Outlook activation improvements whe using MS Exchange: when an Exchange account is detected and Outlook is starting in a disconnected mode, the Toolbar does not attempt to retrieve (validate) the SMTP e-mail address to not block Outlook while loading. When the Toolbar detects that the Exchange connection mode changes to an online mode, it attempts to retrieve (validate) the correct SMTP format e-mail address and the activation can continue. This validation is only performed at activation and is stored locally for future secure sessions.
• IMPROVEMENT: Added a specific case where an e-mail alias is suspected to be used during the activation process. The user now receives an appropriate warning message where the user now has the choice to ‘Report an error’ with the correct context.
• IMPROVEMENT: Improved Activation window design and functionality. Better feedback is given to the user when the wrong password is entered.
• IMPROVEMENT: Added checks for better handling multiple selected e-mail messages and the reply/reply all/forward actions.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an issue where the user could be asked twice to enable their e-mail address with a given PEN.
• IMPROVEMENT: Improved performance while loading the Toolbar for environments with Exchange accounts.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an Out-of-memory error message when the user had too many PEN activations in the Toolbar.
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed an issue with pending activations (accounts in intermediate state waiting for the registration process to complete) that were saved with incomplete information causing the toolbar to lose the reference and create empty entries in the registry.
• IMPROVEMENT: Added a new Preferences option: “Disable Security Warnings” with default value OFF. This option is useful for users with tighter security control or severely limited computer permissions. When this option is turned ON, the Toolbar’s performance is reduced: users that do not require this option should leave turned off.
• IMPROVEMENT: Updated the attachments “Store in Outlook” feature to include the “(DISABLED)” text warning when the PEN does not allow recipienst to locally store attachments (super secure mode).

PEN Admin Console

• NEW: ‘Secure Forms’ functionality now available to all SaaS customers. Previously, the Secure Form feature was only available to Dedicated Servers through the use of the API. SaaS customers can now enjoy the same functionality and create as many secure forms as required on their website that triggers a secure messages directly into the mailbox of the selected recipient. Create secure forms such as ‘Contact Us’, surveys or quote requests, directly on the customer’s website without requiring SLL certificates on the website: the form submissions opens a secure connection directly to the Private Email Network. This allows customers to increase customer service satisfaction while reducing spam by not publishing e-mail addresses on the website (only the list of available recipient’s names are available as a pre-selection).
• NEW: Package Management Update: Now with the ability to auto-assign packages to specific e-mail domains that register with the Private Email Network. Create ‘white lists’ under the Security section of the PEN Admin Console and assign different packages based on audience without needing to manually update each member’s package at a later date.

PEN Server Console

• N/A

email2 Certificate Authority Service (e2CAS)

• N/A

The email2 Team.

May 29, 2009: Version Release 1.8.1458

New code version released this week to all PENs. Complete details of new features and bug fixes available here: http://www.email2.com/what039snew1. Contact your reseller for release schedule to your Private Email Network (PEN).

Web Client

• NEW: Internet Explorer v8.0 is now fully supported. Warning message for IE8.0 users is now removed.
• NEW: Member ID area of Web Client (above the Delivery Slip, top right of browser window) now includes the ‘First’ and ‘Last’ name of the Member.
• NEW: ‘Sign Out’ button now moved to the Member ID area (top right of browser window).
• NEW: Upgraded, more powerful Text Editor with ability to change font size & color, etc.
• NEW: Upgraded, more powerful Attachment Uploader that now works with all attachment types using the Safari and Chrome browsers.
• NEW: Improved recipient fields TO: CC: & BCC automatic height resizing when more than one row of e-mail addresses is entered.
• IMPROVEMENT: Text change at login screen from ‘New user? Register!’ to ‘New user? Register here!’
• IMPROVEMENT: Advertising section at login screen now offers more room for text and images: new ‘Think Green’ promotion as default text. If no content is included, the Login module is presented center page.
• IMPROVEMENT: Changed the ‘More Options’ menu drop down next to the Tabs to ‘Tools’ and re-arranged the menu selection to include all items manageable under this section, sub-divided into 3 sections (1)Account Settings, (2)Client Settings and (3)Help.
• IMPROVEMENT: Decoupled the Text Editor from initial Web Client load for faster login and initial interface loading. The Text Editor component is now only loaded when in ‘compose’ mode.
• IMPROVEMENT: Updated the ‘Quick Authentication’ form to be the same layout as the ‘Full Registration’ form (without the extra steps required by the Full Reg.), including proper title, prompting user to agree with the terms and conditions of use, and excluding the spam warning message found with Full Reg.
• IMPROVEMENT: If Member can only communicate with one Member (based on Package settings, typically seen with ‘Guest’ type Members), ‘CC:’ and ‘BCC:’ fields in the ‘Compose’ window are now hidden since they are otherwise always empty and non-editable.
• IMPROVEMENT: if no CC: or BCC: recipients are present in a received message, the ‘CC:’ and ‘BCC:’ fields are now hidden when printing the message
• IMPROVEMENT: ‘Forgot Password’ form layout updated including some text changes.
• IMPROVEMENT: If Video Module is hidden as per Package settings, the option: ‘Hide Video Module by default when creating new messages:’ under Account Settings is now hidden.
• IMPROVEMENT: Text changes under Account Settings > Preferences: from ‘Allow auto-retrieval of email2 messages:’ to ‘Allow auto-retrieval of secure messages:’, ‘Package:’ to ‘Package Name:’, and ‘Instant Video Messaging:’ to ‘Video Messaging:’.
• IMPROVEMENT: Bug fixed where if ‘Reply and Forward’ functions were set to ‘Remove Button’ for a specific Member Package, the function would be disabled but still visible (grayed out buttons).
• IMPROVEMENT: Fixed a bug when Member saved a reply to a message and went back to the message draft (edit mode), the Message Details ‘Enable Reply or Forward’ and ‘Enable & Share Tracking’ could be changed for the conversation.
• IMPROVEMENT: Mobile Client; removed bullet if no attachments are listed.
• IMPROVEMENT: Bug fixed where after filling the ‘Quick Registration’ form, the new Member was not automatically logged in but re-directed to the login screen for login (redundant authentication).

Outlook Toolbar: Version 1.8.3448

• IMPROVEMENT: Replaced a back-end layout component that was causing an annoying user prompt with specific but rare (less than 1%) implementations of older versions of Microsoft Exchange.

Admin PEN Console

• NEW: Package Management Update: Now with the ability, on a per package basis to hide the ‘Message Attachments’, ‘Voice & Video Message’ and ‘Message Tracking’ modules from the Delivery Slip & Delivery Options pane. This update also included the ability to hide the ‘Alias Management’, ‘Enable with Outlook’, ‘Enable with Blackberry’ and ‘Enable with iGoogle’ Modules from the ‘Tools’ menu drop down menu and left menu area for the Web Client.
• NEW: Package Management Update: Now with the ability on a per Member Package basis to hide and/or rename all Tabs in the Web Client and e.g. for vertical related applications, now with the ability to rename the ‘Mailbox’ Tab to ‘Secure HR Mailbox’ or simply hide the ‘Members’ Tab for employees on a Member Package that can only communicate with one Member, etc.
• NEW: API now supports embedded images into the HTML body of secure messsages.

PEN Server Console

• N/A

email2 Certificate Authority Service (e2CAS)

• N/A

The email2 Team

Read full article: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/42240

“The Larry Awards”, Interop Awards for Best Presentation: N-Krypt Powered by email2

First Place: N-Krypt
Second Place: Riverbed
Third Place: Vidyo

“N-Krypt got it when they did the pitch for me at Star-up City. They hit all of the points I wanted to see, told me what I needed to know and did a demo. This was allot more than I could say for 50% of the Interop vendors, power points and bikini girls don’t get it. I know it is Vegas but many companies are losing focus and attendance in their booths. I say down and watch 27 people avoid one major vendors booth due to people trying to get them in the isles with offers. Have a good presentation, don’t use a professional speaker for your booth. It really looks cheap when you do that and it also look like an infomercial.”

March 09, 2009: 1.6.1439

New code version released this week to all PENs. Complete details of new features and bug fixes available here: http://www.email2.com/what039snew0. Contact your reseller for release schedule to your PEN.