The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities to implement technical safeguards to protect all electronic protected healthcare information (ePHI), making specific reference to encryption, access controls, encryption key management, risk management, auditing and monitoring of ePHI information. The HIPAA Security Rule enumerates examples of encryption methods that covered entities can employ, along with the factors to consider when implementing a HIPAA encryption strategy.

Enacted as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the HITECH Act expands the HIPAA encryption compliance requirement set, requiring the disclosure of data breaches of “unprotected” (unencrypted) personal health records, including those by business associates, vendors and related entities.

The “HIPAA Omnibus Rule” of 2013 formally holds business associates liable for compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule.

Vormetric Transparent Encryption provides file and volume level data-at-rest encryption to protect ePHI from unauthorized access. Vormetric Application Encryption adds another layer of security and HIPAA/HITECH compliance capabilities, enabling organizations to easily build HIPAA/HITECH encryption capabilities into internal applications at the field and column level.

Vormetric Key Management provides the integrated, secure encryption key management that meets HIPAA encryption requirements to separate keys and encrypted data. This solution enables centralized management of encryption keys for other environments and devices including KMIP compatible hardware, Oracle and SQL Server TDE master keys and digital certificates.

Vormetric Data Security Platform access controls extend data breach protection by limiting data access to authorized personnel and programs. In addition, the Platform’s data access monitoring generates the security intelligence information required to identify accounts that represent a threat because of a malicious insider or malware-compromised account credentials.