Which of the following is NOT a mechanism for protecting the security of health data?

• A. automatic sign-off
• B. a strong password
• C. having one password per unit
• D. firewalls

Answer: (C)

Protecting health data relies on strong authentication, access control, and network defenses. Automatic sign-off helps by closing out a session when a user steps away, reducing the chance that someone else can access data from an unattended terminal. A strong password makes it harder for someone to guess or crack credentials, strengthening who can access the system. Firewalls act as a barrier, blocking unauthorized external access and monitoring traffic to protect data in transit and at rest. Sharing one password per unit, however, undermines accountability and makes it easy for a single breach to expose all unit data, since actions cannot be traced to individual users and the credential becomes a common point of failure. Because of that, having one password per unit is not a protective mechanism, while the others contribute to security.