A system administrator at a medical imaging company discovers protected health information (PHI) on a general-purpose file server. Which of the following steps should the administrator take NEXT?

Question

Options

• AIsolate all of the PHI on its own VLAN and keep it segregated at Layer 2.
• BTake an MD5 hash of the server.
• CDelete all PHI from the network until the legal department is consulted.
• DConsult the legal department to determine the legal requirements.

• A
  74% (49)
• B
  3% (2)
• C
  15% (10)
• D
  8% (5)

Explanation

Upon discovering improperly stored Protected Health Information (PHI), the immediate priority under HIPAA is to prevent unauthorized access to that data. Isolating the PHI on a dedicated VLAN with Layer 2 segmentation restricts access to authorized systems and users while the organization determines the appropriate long-term remediation. This is an actionable, protective technical step that reduces breach risk without destroying or altering the data. Deleting PHI (C) could itself be a HIPAA violation if the records are required to be retained, and it destroys potentially necessary data. Taking an MD5 hash (B) is a forensic step not immediately relevant here. While consulting legal (D) is ultimately necessary, the immediate technical response is to secure the data first to minimize exposure - then legal and compliance review follows.

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