Azure PHI Detection
Learn how to detect Protected Health Information (PHI) in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for HIPAA compliance.
Why It Matters
The core goal is to identify every location where Protected Health Information (PHI) is stored within your Azure environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become HIPAA violations. Scanning for PHI in Azure is a priority for healthcare organizations subject to HIPAA regulations, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive patient data—mitigating the risk of data exposure and potential breach notifications.
A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility into PHI across Azure services, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing HIPAA compliance.
Prerequisites
Permissions & Roles
- Azure Contributor or Owner role
- Microsoft Purview Data Curator role
- Azure Health Data Services access (if applicable)
External Tools
- Azure CLI
- Cyera DSPM account
- Microsoft Purview (optional)
Prior Setup
- Azure subscription provisioned
- Storage accounts and databases configured
- Network security groups reviewed
- Azure Health Data Services (if handling FHIR/DICOM)
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 specifically trained for healthcare data, Cyera automatically identifies PHI patterns including patient names, medical record numbers, diagnosis codes, and treatment information across your Azure environment, ensuring you stay ahead of accidental exposures and meet HIPAA audit requirements in real time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Set up service principals with appropriate permissions to access Azure Storage, SQL Database, Cosmos DB, and other services where PHI might be stored.
In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select Azure, provide your subscription details and service principal credentials, then configure scan scope to include healthcare-related storage accounts and databases.
Enable specialized PHI detection patterns including HIPAA identifiers, medical terminology, and healthcare data formats. Configure rules for FHIR resources, DICOM metadata, and electronic health records.
Review the initial PHI detection report, prioritize findings based on data sensitivity and access patterns, and set up continuous monitoring with alerts for new PHI discoveries or exposure risks.
Architecture & Workflow
Azure Resource Manager
Provides metadata about storage and database resources
Cyera Azure Connector
Scans storage accounts, databases, and healthcare services
AI Classification Engine
Applies NER models and PHI-specific detection patterns
HIPAA Compliance Dashboard
Real-time visibility and remediation workflows
Data Flow Summary
Best Practices & Tips
Performance Considerations
- Start with critical healthcare applications first
- Use sampling for large blob storage containers
- Schedule scans during low-usage periods
Healthcare-Specific Tuning
- Configure medical terminology dictionaries
- Set up FHIR and DICOM-specific patterns
- Adjust thresholds for clinical documentation
Common Pitfalls
- Missing Azure Health Data Services instances
- Overlooking development/test environments with PHI
- Insufficient permissions for healthcare databases