Controls
Comprehensive overview of the security control frameworks we run — grouped by category so you can jump straight to the domain you care about.
Control Environment
Security awareness training implemented
Employees are required to complete security awareness training within 30 days of being hired and at least once a year thereafter.
Security policies established and reviewed
The company’s information security policies and procedures are formally documented and reviewed at least once a year.
Board oversight briefings conducted
Senior management briefs the board of directors, or an appropriate subcommittee, at least once a year on the company’s cybersecurity and privacy risk posture. The board offers guidance and feedback to management as necessary.
Communication and Information
Security policies established and reviewed
The company’s information security policies and procedures are formally documented and reviewed at least once a year.
Data integrity maintained
The company has implemented policies and procedures to safeguard electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) against unauthorized alteration or destruction.
Risk Assessment
Infrastructure performance monitored
The company uses an infrastructure monitoring tool to track systems, infrastructure, and performance, generating alerts when predefined thresholds are reached.
Monitoring Activities
Critical system review performed quarterly
For service providers, the company performs reviews at least quarterly to confirm personnel comply with security policies and operational procedures.
Board oversight briefings conducted
Senior management briefs the board of directors, or an appropriate subcommittee, at least once a year on the company’s cybersecurity and privacy risk posture. The board offers guidance and feedback to management as necessary.
Control Activities
Development lifecycle established
The company has a formal systems development life cycle (SDLC) methodology that governs the development, acquisition, implementation, maintenance, and changes (including emergency changes) of information systems and related technology requirements.
Security policies established and reviewed
The company’s information security policies and procedures are formally documented and reviewed at least once a year.
Logical and Physical Access Controls
Data transmission encrypted
The company uses secure transmission protocols to encrypt confidential and sensitive data when it is transmitted over public networks.
Intrusion detection system utilized
The company uses an intrusion detection system to continuously monitor its network and detect potential security breaches early.
Data encryption utilized
The company encrypts datastores containing sensitive customer data at rest.
Security patches installed within one month
The company installs critical security patches within one month of their release, as determined by the risk ranking process defined in VPM-4.
Securely dispose of data
The organization securely disposes of data in accordance with the documented data management process, ensuring that disposal methods are appropriate for the sensitivity of the data.
Remote access encrypted enforced
The company restricts remote access to production systems to authorized employees using an approved encrypted connection.
Data center access reviewed
The company reviews data center access at least once a year.
Malicious software protection implemented
The company has implemented procedures to guard against, detect, and report malicious software.
System Operations
Intrusion detection system utilized
The company uses an intrusion detection system to continuously monitor its network and detect potential security breaches early.
Infrastructure performance monitored
The company uses an infrastructure monitoring tool to track systems, infrastructure, and performance, generating alerts when predefined thresholds are reached.
Vulnerability and system monitoring procedures established
The company’s formal policies define requirements for the following IT and engineering functions: 1. Vulnerability management 2. System monitoring
Incident management procedures followed
The company’s security and privacy incidents are logged, tracked, resolved, and communicated to affected or relevant parties by management in accordance with its security incident response policy and procedures.
Contingency plan established
The company has established and implements, as needed, policies and procedures for responding to emergencies or other events (such as fire, vandalism, system failure, or natural disaster) that may damage systems containing electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).
Change Management
Production deployment access restricted
The company restricts production change migrations to authorized personnel only.
Development lifecycle established
The company has a formal systems development life cycle (SDLC) methodology that governs the development, acquisition, implementation, maintenance, and changes (including emergency changes) of information systems and related technology requirements.
Risk Mitigation
Vendor management program established
The company has a vendor management program in place that includes: 1. Critical third-party vendor inventory 2. Vendor security and privacy requirements 3. Review of critical third-party vendors at least annually
Contingency plan established
The company has established and implements, as needed, policies and procedures for responding to emergencies or other events (such as fire, vandalism, system failure, or natural disaster) that may damage systems containing electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).
Additional Criteria for Availability
Critical system review performed quarterly
For service providers, the company performs reviews at least quarterly to confirm personnel comply with security policies and operational procedures.
Production data backups conducted
The company performs periodic backups of production data, storing the backups in a separate location from the production environment.
Infrastructure performance monitored
The company uses an infrastructure monitoring tool to track systems, infrastructure, and performance, generating alerts when predefined thresholds are reached.
Production multi-availability zones established
The company employs a multi-location strategy for production environments to enable operations to resume at alternate data centers if a facility becomes unavailable.
Database replication utilized
The company’s databases are replicated in real time to a secondary data center, with alerts set up to notify administrators of any replication failures.
Contingency plan established
The company has established and implements, as needed, policies and procedures for responding to emergencies or other events (such as fire, vandalism, system failure, or natural disaster) that may damage systems containing electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).
Environmental monitoring devices implemented
The company uses environmental monitoring devices configured to automatically alert management in the event of environmental incidents.
Additional Criteria for Confidentiality
Data encryption utilized
The company encrypts datastores containing sensitive customer data at rest.
Securely dispose of data
The organization securely disposes of data in accordance with the documented data management process, ensuring that disposal methods are appropriate for the sensitivity of the data.
Additional Criteria for Processing integrity
Production data backups conducted
The company performs periodic backups of production data, storing the backups in a separate location from the production environment.
Establish and maintain a data management process
The organization establishes and maintains a documented data management process that addresses, at a minimum: 1. Data sensitivity 2. Data owner 3. Data handling 4. Data retention limits 5. Data disposal requirements The organization aligns these elements with enterprise sensitivity and retention standards and reviews and updates the documentation annually or upon significant changes that could impact this control.
Data integrity maintained
The company has implemented policies and procedures to safeguard electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) against unauthorized alteration or destruction.
Processing data inputs validated
The company’s system evaluates data inputs for compliance with input requirements and generates on-screen alerts when issues with transaction inputs or processing are detected.
Customer data retained
The company retains customer transaction data for the duration of the customer account. Historical transaction data is not purged until the account is deleted.