AWS PHI Exposure Remediation

Learn how to fix exposed Protected Health Information (PHI) in AWS environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for HIPAA compliance.

unencrypted sensitive data

HIPAA

aws

Why It Matters

The core goal is to rapidly remediate exposed Protected Health Information (PHI) within your AWS environment, ensuring compliance with HIPAA requirements and preventing potential data breaches. Fixing PHI exposure in AWS is critical for healthcare organizations, as unprotected patient data can result in severe regulatory penalties and damage to patient trust.

Primary Risk: Unencrypted sensitive data

Relevant Regulation: HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules

A systematic remediation approach ensures immediate protection of patient data while establishing long-term safeguards against future exposures.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • AWS administrator or IAM role with encryption permissions
  • Access to S3, RDS, EC2, and CloudTrail
  • KMS key management permissions

External Tools

  • AWS CLI
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • Terraform or CloudFormation templates

Prior Setup

  • AWS Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
  • KMS keys configured
  • CloudTrail logging enabled
  • PHI discovery scan completed

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. Using advanced AI and Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PHI patterns and provides actionable remediation steps, ensuring your AWS environment meets HIPAA compliance requirements in real time.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Assess current PHI exposure

Review the exposure findings from your discovery scan, prioritizing unencrypted PHI in S3 buckets, RDS instances, and EC2 storage volumes.

aws s3api get-bucket-encryption --bucket your-phi-bucket

2
Enable encryption at rest

Apply KMS encryption to all storage services containing PHI. Use customer-managed keys for maximum control and compliance with HIPAA requirements.

aws s3api put-bucket-encryption --bucket your-phi-bucket --server-side-encryption-configuration

3
Configure access controls

Implement IAM policies, bucket policies, and VPC endpoints to restrict PHI access to authorized personnel only. Enable MFA for all PHI-related operations.

4
Enable monitoring and alerting

Configure CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and Cyera alerts to monitor PHI access patterns and detect unauthorized activities. Set up automatic notifications for policy violations.

Architecture & Workflow

AWS Services

S3, RDS, EC2, EBS volumes with PHI

KMS Encryption

Customer-managed keys for data protection

Cyera DSPM

Continuous monitoring and compliance tracking

Remediation Controls

IAM policies, access logs, and alerts

Remediation Flow Summary

Identify Exposure → Apply Encryption → Restrict Access → Monitor Compliance

Best Practices & Tips

Encryption Strategy

  • Use customer-managed KMS keys
  • Enable encryption in transit for all data transfers
  • Implement key rotation policies

Access Management

  • Apply principle of least privilege
  • Use time-based access controls
  • Implement break-glass procedures

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting to encrypt EBS snapshots
  • Using default KMS keys instead of customer-managed
  • Neglecting to update existing IAM policies

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🛡️ Prevent: Implement proactive PHI protection controls 🔍 Detect: Set up continuous PHI monitoring