Data Encryption and Zero Trust: How to Protect Patient Information

Data access management is an essential component of a zero-trust security strategy. The healthcare industry faces many data protection challenges, such as encrypting payment card data and meeting security requirements around personal health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) coming from Internet of Medical Things devices. Another challenge involves protecting digital endpoints while also offering ease of access for users that require it, either on-premises or remotely, says Peter Newton, senior director of products and solutions at Fortinet. PHI and PII are part of the data pillar of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Zero Trust Maturity Model. The other four pillars are identity, device, network and application workloads. The data pillar involves determining the location for data storage, who gets granted access and how data encryption occurs during transfer and storage, Newton says.