Keepit strengthens global channel leadership with consolidated, partner-first team

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

 Keepit today announced a strengthened, consolidated global channel organization designed to accelerate growth through partners and reinforce its ambition to become the most partner-friendly organization in the world.

The expanded channel team is led globally by Jan Ursi, Global Vice President of Channels, and anchored by three regional leaders covering Southern Europe, Northern Europe, and the Americas. Together, the team brings deep channel experience, regional expertise, and a unified strategy built around one principle: partners come first.

Keepit operates a 100 percent channel-led go-to-market model, with all sales delivered through value-added resellers, managed service providers, GSIs and strategic alliances. Since launching the Keepit Partner Network and pivoting to a partner-only sales motion, the company has focused on creating a consistent global framework for enablement, joint marketing and collaborative sales execution — while giving regional teams the freedom to adapt to local market needs.

Ursi leads global channel strategy, messaging, and coordination across regions, aligning partner recruitment, enablement, and pipeline initiatives under a single narrative. His approach positions the channel as the default route to market, not an alternative, and prioritizes long-term collaboration over short-term gains.

Southern Europe and DACH: Building an ecosystem of fans

Southern Europe and DACH— including France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Germany, Austria and Switzerland— is led by Cyril VanAgt, Regional Vice President of Channel, EMEA South. Based in Paris, VanAgt brings decades of channel leadership experience from Nutanix and NetApp.

The focus in Southern Europe is rapid ecosystem growth through local activation. This includes region-specific partner campaigns, PR-driven launches, and a structured Partner Academy program combining sales, technical, and marketing tracks. The academy model, already piloted in Paris, is being templated for rollout across the region.

The focus in DACH is to build on the region’s success by expanding the Keepit channel team to better support our top VAR and MSP partners across the Enterprise and Commercial segments, and to execute a strong distribution strategy to develop a run-rate business for the mid-sized and SMB segment in the region.

Northern Europe: Scaling repeatable success

Northern Europe — covering the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Central Eastern Europe, and the Benelux — is led by Alex Walsh, Regional Vice President of Channel, EMEA North. Walsh brings more than 12 years of enterprise SaaS and channel experience, including senior leadership roles at Veeam and AppSense.

In the region, the focus is on expanding tier-one value-added reseller, managed service provider and distributor relationships, supported by a data-led strategy, consistent enablement cycles, and strong engagement with regional channel media.

Americas: Momentum through continuity

In the Americas, the channel organization is led by Jill Miracle, Director Channels Americas. Her focus is maintaining momentum with strategic focus partners while reinforcing Keepit’s long-term commitment to a partner-only model.

This includes synchronized enablement through Keepit’s global Partner Academy tracks, ensuring American partners have timely access to marketing assets, product updates, and certifications.

Global focus built around practical execution

With a unified global strategy and strong regional leadership, Keepit’s channel organization is designed to scale with partners — and grow together.

Keepit’s channel focus is built around practical execution: predictable partner economics, consistent enablement, and a vendor-independent SaaS backup and recovery platform that partners can take to customers across industries. The consolidated structure is designed to make it easier for partners to engage with Keepit, build pipeline, and scale delivery with a repeatable model.

With Ursi leading global strategy and regional leaders driving local execution, Keepit plans to increase partner recruitment, expand certifications, and deepen joint marketing across priority markets in 2026 — with one goal in mind: help partners grow profitable, durable SaaS data protection practices.

To become a Keepit partner, contact partner@keepit.com or visit keepit.com/partners.

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Samsung Canada Introduces the Galaxy A17 5G

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

Samsung Canada has officially added Galaxy A17 5G to the latest Galaxy A series smartphone lineup. Designed for users who want a reliable and accessible device without sacrificing self-expression, Galaxy A17 5G delivers the core features people rely on. It brings together powerful performance, intuitive AI tools, a vibrant display, and a versatile camera system in a refined design. From staying connected and capturing moments to creating and sharing social content, it supports how people use their phones every day.

Awesome AI for Awesome Living

With the introduction of Galaxy A17 5G to the Galaxy A series lineup, Samsung expands its Awesome Intelligence to more users, bringing a range of AI-powered features designed to make mobile experiences more accessible, creative and productive. Features like Circle to Search and Gemini help simplify everyday tasks so you can spend more time on what matters.

See something you like? Just Circle to Search on Galaxy A17 5G to instantly learn more about what’s on your screen, from sneakers you spot online to décor inspiration or travel ideas, without leaving the app.

Galaxy A17 5G also helps you keep up with life using Gemini and Seamless Action Across Apps. Planning a get-together, organizing a trip, or finding the perfect gift? With a single voice command, AI can search for ideas, add events to your calendar and send messages, making everyday planning faster and easier.

Memories Made Picture Perfect

Capture every angle in stunning clarity with Galaxy A17 5G’s versatile triple-camera system. From group photos and street shots to close-ups and everyday details, the Galaxy A17 5G makes it easy to create content worth sharing.

The 50MP main camera, supported by a 5MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro lens, lets you capture wide scenes and close-up moments with equal clarity. With Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), photos and videos stay smoother and sharper, even when you’re on the move.

Your Content, Super Smooth

Stream your favourite movies, scroll social feeds or video chat with friends on Galaxy A17 5G’s crystal-clear 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display. Designed to pull you in with bright, vivid details, the screen brings your content to life for everything from watching shows to browsing recipes and staying connected.

With its thin and lightweight design, the Galaxy A17 5G is comfortable to hold and easy to carry, making it perfect for everyday entertainment wherever life takes you.

Reliable Performance Designed to Last

Supercharge Your Day: Never slow down with a phone that charges fast. Power through your day with a reliable 5,000mAh battery and Super Fast Charging, so you can focus more on what you’re doing and less on your battery percentage. As you head out for the night, commute through the day or move between plans, the Galaxy A17 5G supports quick recharging to help keep you connected.

Need More Storage?: Store more and worry less with generous internal storage and up to 2TB of expandable storage. The Galaxy A17 5G gives you all the space you need for photos, videos, apps and memories, and then some. Keep your favourite moments, social content and important files easily accessible whenever you need them, without the need to constantly delete photos, videos or apps to make room.

Awesome Perks, Built In

Your Galaxy Comes with a Digital Wallet: Pay with a tap and store compatible cards and memberships in one place with Samsung Wallet. Say goodbye to bulky pockets and enjoy secure, convenient and everyday payments right from your phone, with added peace of mind thanks to Samsung Knox protection.

The Best of TV. All for Free. All on Your Phone: Galaxy A17 5G comes with Samsung TV Plus8, giving you access to live TV channels and thousands of movies and shows on demand, all at zero cost. Enjoy awesome entertainment anytime, anywhere, right on your phone.

Availability

Galaxy A17 5G is now available in Canada in Black, with an MSRP of $269.99, through Samsung.com/ca and select carrier and retail partners.

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EnGenius Unveils Cloud-Managed Wi-Fi 7 Enterprise AP with 24/7 AirGuard™ Security

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

EnGenius Technologies today announces the expansion of its EnGenius Cloud-managed security portfolio with advanced Wi-Fi 7 access points featuring EnGenius AirGuard™, now integrated into its flagship ECW536S Wi-Fi 7 series for enhanced protection in security-sensitive environments such as financial institutions, healthcare, and enterprises.

Continuous Wireless Threat Protection with AirGuard™

As enterprise environments embrace remote access and proliferating Bluetooth/IoT endpoints, attack surfaces have expanded dramatically. EnGenius addresses this challenge with AirGuard™, an intelligent wireless intrusion detection and prevention system (WIDS/WIPS) built into its APs. AirGuard™ delivers 24/7 threat detection—identifying and neutralizing threats such as evil twins, rogue APs, man‑in‑the‑middle attacks, RF jammers, and flood attempts—by leveraging dedicated scanning radios. This always‑on security protection operates without compromising wireless performance. Professional-grade RF spectrum analysis visualizes SSID legitimacy and ensures optimal channel utilization, while zero-wait DFS facilitates seamless, non‑disruptive channel shifts when radar is detected. Additionally, BLE scanning capabilities detect nearby Bluetooth devices.

Key Features:

  • Wireless intrusion detection system (WIDS) – for threat detection
  • Wireless intrusion protection system (WIPS) – for attack remediation
  • 24/7 Wireless Threat Monitoring – Continuously scans for malicious activity using dedicated security radios without affecting Wi-Fi performance.
  • Comprehensive Threat Detection – Identifies rogue APs, evil twins, flood attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and RF jammers.
  • Dedicated Security Radios – Ensure uninterrupted client connectivity while maintaining constant threat surveillance.
  • Cloud-Managed Protection – Real-time monitoring and alerts through EnGenius Cloud for immediate response.
  • Proactive Defense – Neutralizes threats before they compromise sensitive enterprise networks.
  • Ideal for High-Security Environments – Perfect for finance, healthcare, government, and distributed enterprise networks.

The ECW536S, powered by the Qualcomm® Networking Pro 1220 platform, cloud‑managed Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) 4×4×4 access point for enterprises. With ultra-fast aggregate speeds of up to 18.8 Gbps, it delivers exceptional performance across all bands—2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz—expanding capacity for bandwidth-demanding applications and dense environments.

Key Benefits

  • High Speeds & Capacity – Deliver blazing Wi-Fi 7 performance with throughput up to 11,600 Mbps (6 GHz), 5,800 Mbps (5 GHz), and 1,440 Mbps (2.4 GHz) to power bandwidth-intensive and data-heavy applications.
  • Advanced Optimization – Featuring 4x4x4 MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and a 10 GbE PoE++ uplink, the ECW536S ensures efficient channel use, ultra-low latency, and rock-solid connectivity in the most demanding high-density environments.
  • Future-Ready Connectivity – Fully supports the latest Wi-Fi standards while remaining backward-compatible, making it easy to integrate into existing networks and prepare for tomorrow’s wireless technologies.
  • Simplified Cloud Management – Centralized through EnGenius Cloud for zero-touch provisioning, streamlined configuration, and automated firmware updates, reducing deployment time and operating costs.

Unified Security and Performance for Sensitive Environments

With phishing responsible for up to 90% of enterprise data breaches, often initiated through rogue devices, securing wireless infrastructure is paramount. EnGenius now offers an all-in-one, cloud‑managed solution—combining high‑performance Wi‑Fi 7 connectivity with continuous, intelligent security monitoring—eliminating the need for disparate point solutions and reducing costly vulnerabilities.

Availability

The ECW536S will be available from EnGenius authorized resellers and distribution partners by the end of January, with an MSRP of $749. For additional product specifications and purchasing information, visit: ECW536S

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Guest Post – Hidden Dangers in Free Cybersecurity Tools: How to Safeguard Your Data in 2026

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

A recent alarming event, where a VPN proxy extension that was supposed to protect users spied on them instead and sold data to brokerage firms, was a reminder to be careful about whom users trust with their data in 2026. However, according to cybersecurity experts, free cybersecurity tools are a better solution than no tools at all, as long as users remain vigilant.

In December, it was discovered that a VPN proxy browser extension – a tool designed to let users hide their IP address and browse the internet anonymously – secretly collected data from at least six million consumers.

Every query entered by users through the extension into ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and other chatbots was transmitted to advertising and data brokerage companies.

This case was just one of many examples of free cybersecurity tools caught silently profiting from users’ private data. According to experts at Planet VPN, a company that provides a free virtual private network, “free” doesn’t necessarily mean malicious: there are already numerous free and legitimate tools used by cybersecurity specialists.

These include Wireshark, a network traffic analyzer trusted by millions of IT professionals and cybersecurity experts; Nmap, a tool used for network security and auditing; and password managers, including one provided by Apple.

​According to Konstantin Levinzon, co-founder of Planet VPN, both paid and unpaid cybersecurity services carry risks. Users should identify them and weigh in on whether the service is trustworthy based on legitimate data and independent reviews.

“Considering the fact that a number of free cybersecurity service providers have tried to profit from their users, consumers are right to be suspicious and should treat free cybersecurity tools with caution,” he says. “However, we believe that as cyberincidents increase every year, basic cybersecurity has to remain free, and there are far more important factors to consider than just the free vs paid debate.”

What does the tool’s update history say?

According to Levinzon, a trustworthy cybersecurity tool regularly releases updates that patch vulnerabilities, improve features, and enhance security protocols.

​If a user notices a lack of updates or a history of irregular updates, this could indicate negligence or intentional failure to address security flaws that might put users’ data at risk, Levinzon says.

Reputable websites often display information about their updates on official websites or documentation; this information can also be found on App Store, Google Play, or repositories like GitHub.

Evaluate reputation and transparency

Trustworthy free cybersecurity vendors often have a clear track record across various platforms. According to Levinzon, third-party reviews, industry certifications, and user feedback, such as cybersecurity forums, reviews, and ratings on Google Play, can provide reliable information about the product.

Transparency in how a company handles data storage, encryption, and vulnerability reports is a sign of a trustworthy provider. According to Levinzon, this is especially true in the VPN industry, where many companies do not disclose such information.

“A reliable VPN provider, be it free or paid, should not share, store, or collect data like browsing history, IP addresses, and ensure that your online activity remains private. Users should also make sure that their provider is based outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, which include countries like the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, as these agreements permit surveillance and data sharing among member states,” he says.

Check for loopholes in the privacy policy

According to Levinzon, many users skim over the privacy policy, even though these documents often reveal how a service truly operates. Vague or contradictory language about data usage, retention, and third-party sharing is also a red flag.

“It is natural for free cybersecurity service providers to display ads in order to generate revenue for infrastructure and service quality improvements. However, they should explicitly state that only non-personalized, aggregated data is shared with ad platforms-and only with the user’s explicit consent,” Levinzon concludes.

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SOCRadar’s Dark Web Research into Major Underground Markets of 2025

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

The SOCRadar threat research team will publish its Annual Dark Web Report, a structured view of illicit activity observed across major underground markets during 2025.

This includes the most impacted industries, U.S. targeting trends, the economy behind the dark web, the scale of stealer impacts, as well as AI democratization. 

Some key findings include: 

  • The U.S. is the primary target across multiple threat types, accounting for 41.42% of ransomware attacks which is a drop from 53.30% in 2024.
  • Public Administration is the most exposed industry on the Dark Web, indicating sustained pressure on government institutions through data leaks.
  • In 2025, Akira took the first place in terms of activity with 8.35% of ransomware attacks.
  • Deepfake, voice manipulation, and pentesting tools now openly available without dark web access, eliminating vetting barriers previously limiting access to well-resourced actors.

Furthermore, this research breaks down the value of regional credit cards, the market behind vulnerability exploits (the costs for low-end and mid-tier vulns increased, but high-end ones decreased), as well as the impact of stolen data (Facebook seeing 93.2M accounts among stolen logs). 

The report is here: SOCRadar Annual Dark Web Report 2025

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Ransomware Victims and Threat Groups Surge to Record Levels, GuidePoint Security Finds

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

GuidePoint Security announced today the release of the GuidePoint Research and Intelligence Team’s (GRIT) annual Ransomware & Cyber Threat Report.

The GRIT 2026 Ransomware & Cyber Threat Report provides exclusive in-depth research, insights and analysis on a year of record-breaking ransomware activity, examining who cybercriminals are targeting (and why), the top tactics threat actors are using and how shifting ransomware group dynamics are redefining the threat landscape.

Findings from this year’s report include:

  • Ransomware victim numbers hit a new all-time high. 2,287 ransomware victims were posted in Q4 2025 alone — the largest number recorded in a single quarter since the report’s inception.
  • The number of threat groups has reached record levels. 124 distinct ransomware groups were active in 2025, the highest ever recorded and a 46% year-over-year increase.
  • The United States remains a top geographic target for ransomware attacks. In 2025, more than half (55%) of ransomware victims were based in the U.S.
  • A new RaaS leader has emerged. Qilin’s activity levels in 2025 were the highest of any group ever observed.
  • The Manufacturing industry was most heavily impacted by ransomware, accounting for 14% of attacks. The Technology (9%) and Retail/Wholesale (7%) industries followed closely behind.
  • High ransomware activity levels should continue in 2026. December 2025 was the most active month for claimed ransomware victims on record with 814 successful attacks — a 42% year-over-year increase.

The report also explores the growing use of AI in ransomware attacks, examines the impact of zero-day vulnerabilities on ransomware and takes an in-depth look at major ransomware operators throughout the year, including an analysis of ransomware payments made to the Qilin and Akira groups.

The GRIT 2026 Ransomware & Cyber Threat Report is based on data obtained from publicly available resources, vendor threat research, internal incident response case data and open-source intelligence collected from illicit forums and marketplaces.

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Team Cymru and OpenCTI Partner to Supercharge Threat Intelligence With Global Visibility

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 14, 2026 by itnerd

Team Cymru today announced a strategic partnership and integration with OpenCTI, the widely adopted open-source threat intelligence platform developed by Filigran. The collaboration brings Team Cymru’s Pure Signal intelligence and Scout capabilities directly into OpenCTI, enabling defenders to access global visibility, instant enrichment, and automated threat-hunting workflows without ever leaving the platform.

The integration transforms the analyst experience by replacing manual lookups with immediate clarity. Alerts can now be enriched on demand with global context, allowing analysts to quickly determine whether an IP is a controller, VPN endpoint, proxy, or part of a broader campaign. This greatly accelerates triage and response by delivering decision-ready intelligence within the analyst’s existing workflow rather than forcing them to pivot across tools. Teams can also shift from reactive operations to proactive threat hunting, using automated playbooks to continuously uncover emerging malicious infrastructure, such as ransomware or DPRK-aligned activity, as soon as adversaries establish it.

By fusing internal incident data with Team Cymru’s global perspective on NetFlow-derived insights, infrastructure classifications, and traffic patterns, organizations gain a more complete understanding of threats and the entities behind them. The integration further enables dynamic indicator generation by automatically converting complex Scout search results into STIX indicators, allowing immediate monitoring, alerting, and sharing across the OpenCTI ecosystem. In practical terms, the collaboration equips analysts with the equivalent of expanding their view from only the cameras inside their building to the entire city’s traffic camera network, offering visibility into threats long before they arrive at the door.

From Filigran’s perspective, the partnership enhances both operational value and the broader open-source intelligence community. “The strength of the threat-intelligence community comes from openness and collaboration. Integrating Team Cymru’s Pure Signal with OpenCTI empowers defenders everywhere with richer context and faster analytic workflows, all while preserving the transparency and extensibility of our platform. We are proud to partner with an organization committed to elevating the global security ecosystem,” said Samuel Hassine, CEO and Co-Founder of Filigran.

This partnership underscores Team Cymru’s commitment to delivering actionable visibility that helps organizations move from reactive response to proactive, intelligence-driven defense. The integration is available now for all OpenCTI users. For configuration details and onboarding guidance, visit https://www.team-cymru.com/opencti. 

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The CCTS Annual Report Is Out…. And Rogers Leads The Way In A Bad Way…. Again….

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 14, 2026 by itnerd

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services or CCTS has released its annual report which you can read here. But if you don’t have time to read the report, here’s the highlights.

  • The commission accepted  23,647 complaints. This covers all telco services such as phone, wireless, TV, Internet.
  • Rogers leads the way in a bad way with 6485 of those complaints being attributed to them. Another fun fact is that this is also a 16.6 per cent increase of last year.
  • Telus received 4904 complaints this year. That’s a 78 per cent increase from last year.
  • Bell had complaints 3966, which is a slight drop from last year at 0.2 per cent.
  • Freedom Mobile had 940 complaints which accounts for a 6.2 per cent increase from last year.

That kind of implies that Canadians as a whole are not happy with Canadian telcos. But Rogers and TELUS really need to step up their game as TELUS had a substantial increase in complaints year over year. Rogers had a significant increase as well. That doesn’t mean Bell can rest on the fact that they had a slight decrease. Clearly they have work to do. And Freedom isn’t exactly home free either as their complaints increased as well.

Hopefully Canadian telcos pay attention to this and up their respective games when it comes to customer service so that their customers are much happier than they are right now.

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SafeBreach releases 2026 State of the Breach Report 

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 14, 2026 by itnerd

SafeBreach has released its 2026 State of the Breach Report, analyzing results from millions of real-world attack simulations conducted by large, global enterprises over a 12-month period using the SafeBreach Exposure Validation Platform.

The report provides never-before-seen insights about how enterprises fared against 2025’s high-profile threats by examining how security controls actually performed under real attack conditions, moving beyond traditional metrics such as alerts generated, patches applied, or tools deployed. Drawing on more than 1.8 million high-fidelity simulations executed throughout 2025, the data shows where modern enterprise defenses are performing well, where threats continue to evade controls, and how outcomes differ across industries, threat actors, and MITRE ATT&CK techniques.

Key findings show that attacks like ransomware were consistently prevented, while stealthy, identity-driven campaigns continue to evade enterprise defenses. The data highlights persistent gaps in credential abuse, post-compromise activity, and lateral movement, with more than 60% of organizations exposing harvestable credentials during testing. The report also finds that industries with integrated, centralized security stacks demonstrate stronger resilience, while fragmented IT/OT and endpoint-heavy environments fail regardless of budget or tool count.

You can read the report here: https://www.safebreach.com/white-papers/safebreach-2026-state-of-the-breach-report/

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Guest Post: ChatGPT Health Promises Safety and Clarity – But at What Price to Your Privacy?

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 14, 2026 by itnerd

By Stefanie Schappert

AI health assistants are here to stay, and they may provide real value in helping people interpret complicated medical information, but consumers should understand exactly what that means before inviting those tools into their most sensitive digital lives. What are the data risks consumers need to know before plunging headfirst into this new era of healthcare?

ChatGPT Health: Insight vs Exposure in AI-Driven Healthcare

Health data is already among the most sensitive personal information people have, and with the introduction of ChatGPT Health last week, users will undoubtedly be pouring their medical data into the AI chatbot with the same verve they have since ChatGPT was first launched in November 2022. 

But should they? 

The amount of sensitive information users freely and regularly post into ChatGPT (and other popular AI chatbots) is astounding.  

A study last January found that nearly one in ten workers regularly exposed their own companies’ sensitive data when using AI. 

And when thousands of ChatGPT conversations were leaked via search engines last August, the conclusion was that people pretty much share everything with AI, literally. 

So when OpenAI introduced its ChatGPT Health to the public, tech and health experts began sounding the warning bells about privacy and security issues, as well as the limits of AI’s accuracy.  

This makes it crucial to understand where information is going and how it’s being used, especially when the data in question includes deeply sensitive details such as medical history or chronic conditions.

“Designed to Support, Not Replace, Medical Care”

OpenAI touts ChatGPT Health as a “dedicated experience” intended to help people understand lab results, prepare for doctor visits, track fitness and wellness trends, or compare insurance options, marking a significant shift in how consumers interact with AI. 

“Health is already one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT,” OpenAI said in the announcement, noting that 230 million people worldwide ask the bot health and wellness questions every week.

Users can now upload and connect Health not only to medical records, but also to wellness apps – such as Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – creating a complete individual health profile, the likes of which we have never seen before. 

Traditionally, health data has been scattered across many devices and platforms – a hospital portal here, a fitness tracker there, a PDF of bloodwork in your inbox. 

But now, health data will be woven together into new AI-generated interpretations and summaries, all stored within a single system.

Not just storing medical records, Health will aggregate and interpret them, creating narratives, patterns, and insights – a fundamental departure from how most people think about their medical data. 

This matters because the value of health data isn’t just in its raw form; it’s what can be inferred and contextualized from it. 

Derived insights, health trends over time, connections between symptoms and test results, and personalized explanations can prove more revealing than the “data points” themselves. 

People may also consent to sharing individual data points, for example, a symptom or lab result,  without understanding the new meaning that emerges once those data points are combined.

AI algorithms developed from aggregated data have already proven that, in the wrong hands,  could easily lead to AI biases, workplace, or societal discrimination, impacting such variables as individual treatment plans or health insurance premiums, among many others. 

Understanding the Privacy Tradeoffs

On the technical side, OpenAI says ChatGPT Health builds on its existing security architecture with additional, layered protections, including purpose-built encryption and isolation to keep health conversations protected and compartmentalized.

Users can also enable multi-factor authentication, review or delete Health memories, and revoke access to connected apps at any time, according to OpenAI.

With layered, end-to-end encryption, health conversations are isolated and not used to train models, the company further states.

Still, privacy critics have pointed out that when users upload medical records into an AI service – even one with promises of encryption and compartmentalization – they may effectively remove traditional privacy protections that would otherwise apply in regulated healthcare settings.

One expert recently told The Record that giving an AI access to electronic medical records can strip those records of the legal safeguards they enjoy under rules like HIPAA, which lays out how Protected Health Information (PHI) is processed, stored, transmitted, and secured.

“ChatGPT is only bound by its own disclosures and promises, so without any meaningful limitation on that, like regulation or a law, ChatGPT can change the terms of its service at any time,” explained Sara Geoghegan, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Because health data remains among the most valuable targets for hackers, any system that aggregates medical records, wellness data, and AI-generated health insights – especially on a single platform – can significantly increase the amount of data exposed in the event of a breach.

From a cybersecurity perspective, aggregation also concentrates value, making AI health platforms especially attractive targets for attackers seeking high-impact data rather than isolated records.

The tradeoff – insight versus exposure – is destined to be the burning question we face moving forward.

One thing is certain: weighing insight vs. exposure is no longer theoretical – it is now the defining moment of AI-driven healthcare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stefanie Schappert, a senior journalist at Cybernews, is an accomplished writer with an M.S. in cybersecurity, immersed in the security world since 2019.  She has a decade-plus experience in America’s #1 news market working for Fox News, Gannett, Blaze Media, Verizon Fios1, and NY1 News.  With a strong focus on national security, data breaches, trending threats, hacker groups, global issues, and women in tech, she is also a commentator for live panels, podcasts, radio, and TV. Earned the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) certification as part of the initial CC pilot program, participated in numerous Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions, and took 3rd place in Temple University’s International Social Engineering Pen Testing Competition, sponsored by Google.  Member of Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC), Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) International Honor Society for Computing and Information Disciplines. 

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