AWS PHI Detection

Learn how to detect protected health information (PHI) in AWS environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for HIPAA compliance and secure healthcare data management.

unencrypted sensitive data

HIPAA

aws

Why It Matters

The core goal is to identify every location where protected health information (PHI) is stored within your AWS environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become costly HIPAA violations. Scanning for PHI in AWS is critical for healthcare organizations and their business associates, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive patient data—mitigating the risk of unencrypted sensitive data exposure.

Primary Risk: Unencrypted sensitive data exposure

Relevant Regulation: HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules

A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance with healthcare data protection requirements.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • AWS IAM administrator access
  • Amazon Macie service permissions
  • S3 bucket read access across accounts

External Tools

  • AWS CLI or SDK
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • API credentials

Prior Setup

  • AWS account with healthcare workloads
  • S3 buckets containing potential PHI
  • Cross-account access configured
  • CloudTrail logging enabled

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging advanced AI and Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PHI patterns in your AWS environment—from patient names and medical record numbers to diagnostic codes and treatment notes—ensuring comprehensive HIPAA compliance and real-time breach prevention.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure AWS IAM roles and permissions

Create a dedicated service role with the minimum required permissions for PHI discovery across S3, RDS, and other AWS services storing potential healthcare data.

aws iam create-role --role-name CyeraPHIDiscovery --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json

2
Enable comprehensive data discovery

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → Cloud → Add AWS. Provide your account ID, role ARN, and external ID. Configure discovery scope to include all regions and services containing potential PHI.

3
Deploy AI-powered classification models

Configure Cyera's NER models to detect healthcare-specific identifiers including patient names, medical record numbers, insurance IDs, and clinical notes. Set confidence thresholds appropriate for your risk tolerance.

4
Validate findings and establish monitoring

Review the initial PHI detection report, validate classifications against known sensitive datasets, and configure real-time alerts for new PHI discoveries. Establish automated remediation workflows for high-risk findings.

Architecture & Workflow

AWS S3/RDS/EBS

Source repositories containing potential PHI

Cyera Discovery Engine

Scans and samples data using secure APIs

AI Classification Models

NER and ML models identify PHI patterns

HIPAA Compliance Dashboard

Real-time visibility and audit reports

Data Flow Summary

Discover Data Stores → Apply AI Classification → Identify PHI Patterns → Generate Compliance Reports

Best Practices & Tips

Performance Considerations

  • Start with critical healthcare workloads first
  • Use intelligent sampling for large datasets
  • Schedule scans during low-usage periods

Tuning Detection Rules

  • Customize PHI patterns for your organization
  • Maintain allowlists for test/synthetic data
  • Adjust sensitivity for different data types

Common Pitfalls

  • Missing PHI in EBS snapshots and AMIs
  • Overlooking database backups and logs
  • Insufficient cross-account discovery scope

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🛡️ Prevent: Implement PHI exposure prevention controls 🔧 Fix: Remediate exposed PHI in AWS environments