#Sookasa hipaa encryption full

Centrally manage everything: You can make it easier to enforce the security policies you’re working hard to implement by using centralized management.This would prevent from someone listening in as your information gets routed across the Internet.Īnything else we should know about HIPAA encryption best practices?īeyond the encryption mechanism itself, there are a number of best practices for managing your encryption solution. SSL is used to protect files transferred between the user’s browser and cloud solution, for example, or between the application on a user’s device and the cloud server.

SSL is a secure transfer tunnel that means data is encrypted in transit. So what are HIPAA encryption best practices for data in transit? These days, data is designed to move-between colleagues, to billing offices, or between you and patients. File encryption solutions can mitigate threats involving malware and remote access to protected information. Importantly, files encrypted in this way remain protected regardless of where they are stored, because you’re encrypting more than just the place where it resides or travels. This means the information is unavailable to unauthorized viewers. File-level encryption enables users to encrypt specific files and folders with a unique key. Once they do so, the container is mounted as a virtual disk. Users need to be authenticated to access the containers. This method encrypts things called containers, which hold many files and folders.

Virtual Disk Encryption: You might find this approach on all types of end-user device storage.

#Sookasa hipaa encryption full

Caveat encryptor! Full disk encryption often cannot protect files copied or moved from the encrypted storage to another location (either local or on the network), because the files are automatically decrypted as part of the process.But when it is booted, full-disk encryption doesn’t provide protection once the operating system loads, it takes over the responsibility of protecting information. All the information encrypted using full-disk encryption on an unbooted computer is protected. Access is restricted through user authentication.

Full-Disk Encryption: This method encrypts all the data on a computer’s hard drive, including the computer’s operating system.

That’s why Sookasa uses file-level encryption to protect your most sensitive information in the cloud. But-spoiler alert!-we think file encryption is the most fool-proof, and therefore best from a compliance perspective. What are the different methods of HIPAA encryption? HIPAA encryption solutions, especially file-level encryption, which we’ll explain in more detail below, are meant to minimize this risk, because the protections should follow your sensitive data no matter where it resides. The worst part? Without encryption or auditability, it’s not even clear what happens to various files. You no doubt have read countless cases of breaches that were reported because laptops rife with unencrypted data were stolen. The main thing that encryption mitigates is unauthorized access to information-especially on lost or stolen devices. But there are a number of different HIPAA encryption methods. The strongest, industry-leading standard for at-rest data-and the standard Sookasa uses-is AES 256-bit encryption.Įncryption tends to be an effective means by which entities beholden to HIPAA can secure protected health information, which is why so many implement it. Only people who have the appropriate encryption key would be able to decrypt, or translate, the text into its original, comprehensible version. The text is encrypted by means of an algorithm. Encryption converts regular, readable text into encoded text. That’s why it’s important to do more than check the box on compliance by focusing on solutions that provide real security.Īt this point, it’s probably worthwhile to explain just what encryption is. We know it’s frustrating, but we’re not sure why it’s so vague on the topic of HIPAA encryption. So encryption (or its equivalent) is required if it’s reasonable and appropriate to encrypt-which it usually is. Basically, HIPAA says there are only two ways to safeguard against the misuse of PHI: Encrypt it, or burn it. Documenting is important, especially in the case an audit by the Office for Civil Rights. Otherwise, it needs to implement an alternative to HIPAA encryption-and document why it did so. That said, the Health and Human Services’ Security Rule stipulates that encryption should be implemented if an entity finds it would safeguard electronic PHI, it. HIPAA encryption isn’t technically mandatory under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.