How to Match Kubernetes Security to HIPAA Compliance

Protecting sensitive data always starts with best practices for vulnerability management and configuration auditing. But in a production environment, protecting containers from exploits and data breaches requires cloud-native network security designed to protect the Kubernetes network.

Within Kubernetes environments, containers are deployed for applications that are storing, processing, and transmitting sensitive, HIPAA-protected data. Containers may also store secrets used to access applications – presenting even more avenues for nefarious attackers to put PHI at risk.

Even with encryption in place, you need to protect against unauthorized and inadvertent transmissions of unencrypted PHI data. A container DLP strategy can effectively monitor the Kubernetes environment's network and recognize connections where sensitive data is present. This is accomplished through Layer 7 (application layer) deep packet inspection, which enables the container DLP to identify PHI data within network payloads.