UAB Briefs: A brave UAB doctor, tips to stop data thieves, better primary care

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs after a two-week summer break.

In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.

Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention?

Email Iron City Ink at sydney@starnespublishing.com or jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

A UAB medical hero

Lt. Col. Benjamin Mitchell, M.D., the commander of an Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team operating out of UAB, was recently awarded the 2017 Heroes of Military Medicine Award by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, according to a UAB news release.

The award is given to active-duty military medical professionals, with one recipient each year from the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Special Operations Surgical Teams (SOSTs), are mobile teams consisting of six specialists with advanced medical and tactics training who can deploy to austere or hostile areas to provide surgical support.

Mitchell was cited for leadership when the team was posted in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, treating multiple patients at a field casualty collection point while undergoing a mortar attack within 250 meters.

Operation Inherent Resolve is the U.S. military's intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, including the campaigns in Iraq and Syria.

“In a SOST, you get to work with some of the best medical care providers in the military,” Mitchell said in the release. “We operate at a high level of readiness and focus, and my team reflects the highest professionalism under extreme conditions.”

UAB became home to a SOST in 2010, and the team works in the hospital’s Level 1 trauma center when not deployed overseas.

Ways to stop data thieves

Theft of payment card information through retail and restaurant data breaches hit an all-time high in 2016, with more than 1,000 confirmed breaches in the United States, according to a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center.

The source of the attack is usually an infected point-of-sale terminal, where criminals are able to collect customers’ names, card numbers and personal identification numbers each time a credit or debit card is swiped.

Industries are trying to to protect consumer information – they’ve added of computer chips to credit and debit cards, for example – but there are steps consumers can take to protect themselves.

A cybersecurity expert at UAB – Gary Warner, director of the Center for Information Assurance and Joint Forensics Research – shares some of those tips in a UAB news release.

Never swipe your card if it has a chip

Unlike magnetic-strip cards, each time a chip card is used to make a purchase, the chip creates a unique transaction code that cannot be used again.

“It is theoretically impossible to copy the computer chips that have been added to credit and debit cards,” Warner said in the release. “However, if you are swiping for purchases with your chip card, criminals don’t have to worry about the chip because they can use the information from the magnetic strip on the back to make a duplicate copy of the card.”

Warner also urges consumers to use their chip cards only in chip-compliant places.

Consider using another form of payment

Point-of-sale terminals that are out in the open are easy targets for criminals to manually upload malicious software, or they can place a card skimmer on the device if they are not able to gain access remotely through a company’s network. ATMs and gas pumps are also prime targets for skimmers. If a merchant is unable to process chip card payments, consider using cash or mobile payment such as Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay.

“In situations where you don’t have enough cash or have to give your card to someone else in order to pay, like at a sit-down restaurant, consider using a credit card instead of your debit card,” Warner said. “Doing this will prevent your debit card-linked bank account from being drained if your payment information does become compromised. If fraud is committed against a credit card, nothing is lost directly since the line of credit represents borrowed funds.”

Sign your name instead of using your PIN

If paying with a debit card is your only option, sign for the purchase instead of typing in a personal identification number. You can do this by asking the cashier to process the card as a credit card or by selecting credit card on the display. Doing this will help reduce the chances of a hacker stealing your PIN, which would allow them to do even more damage to your account by printing a duplicate card and taking money out through an ATM.

Be cautious when opening emails about data breaches

When a point-of-sale data breach occurs and draws media attention, hackers often take advantage of the breach by sending malicious emails about the event or offers for free credit monitoring. A malicious email will contain links that direct you to fake websites that try to steal your information. If the email looks credible, go to the company’s main website instead of clicking on any links inside the email.

Monitor your accounts

Scan credit card and bank statements every month for unauthorized charges. Most banks also provide options for customers to receive text alerts anytime a purchase is made. It is also wise to check your credit report periodically.

If you think data breaches are scary...

UAB researchers say that brainwave-sensing headsets, also known as EEG or electroencephalograph headsets, need better security after their study showed hackers could guess a user’s passwords by monitoring their brainwaves, according to a university news release.

EEG headsets are advertised as allowing users to use only their brains to control robotic toys and video games developed to be played with an EEG headset. There are only a few available, and they range in price from $150 to $800.

The study was conducted by Nitesh Saxena, an associate professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, and Ph.D. student Ajaya Neupane and former master's student Md Lutfor Rahman.

They found that a person who paused a video game and logged into a bank account while wearing an EEG headset was at risk for having their passwords or other data stolen by malicious software.

"The headsets could create “significant security and privacy threats as companies work to develop even more advanced brain-computer interface technology,” said Saxena.

“It is important to analyze the potential security and privacy risks associated with this emerging technology to raise users’ awareness of the risks and develop viable solutions to malicious attacks,” Saxena said.

One solution proposed by Saxena and his team is the insertion of noise anytime a user types a password or PIN while wearing an EEG headset.

More primary care for Alabama

A 2016 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges shows a drastic need for primary care physicians.

The problem is especially acute in Alabama — in 2012, the state had 3,512 active primary care physicians for a ratio of approximately 73 per 100,000 people, ranking it 45th in the nation.

The UAB School of Medicine has made increasing the number of students who pursue a career in primary care a key component of its mission to serve the state.

The school will now offer a new track in its four-year medical degree program, the Primary Care Track, according to a UAB news release.

It is designed to provide students a strong foundation in clinical medicine focused on preparation for residency training in primary care and other community-based specialty fields.

The Primary Care Track is offered in collaboration with the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences, which serves as the School of Medicine’s Tuscaloosa Regional Campus.

“The primary care needs in Alabama are important enough that we’ve created this track, not only to identify prospective medical students who are interested in primary care, but to offer students experiences, mentorship and guidance that will be valuable throughout their medical educations and into their careers,” said Dr. Craig J. Hoesley, senior associate dean for Medical Education.

The first group of Primary Care Track students will apply to the program this summer.