Healthcare Data Security and Data Masking

Running head: HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
Healthcare data security and data masking
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1HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of the Problem.............................................................................................................3
Problem Statement...........................................................................................................................3
Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................................4
Nature of the Study..........................................................................................................................4
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................5
Hypotheses.......................................................................................................................................5
Brief Review of the Literature.........................................................................................................6
Characteristic of the Research Area and Problem.........................................................................11
Contribution of the Study to the Literature....................................................................................11
Contribution to the Context of the Problem..................................................................................12
Similar and Related Studies...........................................................................................................12
Gap in the Literature......................................................................................................................13
Conceptual Framework..................................................................................................................13
Framework.....................................................................................................................................15
Definition of Terms.......................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................0

2HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
Introduction
In the recent age of globalization, healthcare service is spreading its reach to the each and every
end of the society, integrating almost all of the population in the healthcare system
(Abouelmehdi et al, 2017). Due to this, it has created a need of using information technology of
software so that all the healthcare related data and information, medication information, personal
data and insurance related data could be saved over internet and then could be protected from
mishap or theft and the efficiency and efficiency of the healthcare data could be protected from
hacking and other aspects (Liu et al., 2013). This age therefore is famous for storing the
healthcare data over cloud which increases the ability to electronically store and transfer the
health information to improve the quality of health so that service provided to the healthcare
system could be protected (Yuvaraj, 2015). Despite the ability of the healthcare information
system in maintaining and protecting the data of patients for the benefit of patients and
healthcare facility, there are instances in which the data of the healthcare facilities are
compromised. This compromised data is a major challenge for the healthcare facility as well as
the healthcare service provider as it can affect their health and can degrade the quality of
healthcare provided in the healthcare facility (Aiswarya et al., 2013).
In this section, discussion about the healthcare data security and several aspects of this cloud
computing in changing the paradigm shift for the infrastructure and the system software will be
discussed in the assignment with the help of hypothesis and multiple research questions. Further,
the requirement of the cloud computing in determining the data security its effectiveness and
future prospects will also be discussed in this research article.

3HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
Background of the Problem
Healthcare data must be handled with the utmost of care as it involves personal information of
people. Almost all healthcare transactions are converted to online transactions, as x-rays, MRI
images, patient lab reports, digital images, and video files are saved in patients records. Online
records are safely, encrypted and transmitted without any delay, compared to mailing and faxing
the healthcare documents (Yuvaraj, 2015). Every day millions of online record transactions take
place between healthcare providers, hospitals, and medical groups. Online data is fast, accurate,
cost-efficient, and easy to integrate the use for analysis and research purposes. With online data
advantages, there are also some risks. In terms of risks associated with online medical records,
any theft of data could mean a few thousands to millions of accounts are compromised. This data
is used in the black market for personal identification or duplicate identity. Some hackers are
sponsored by the government or private parties to steal information that's available online. With
advancement in technology, many companies need to move to the cloud for security, expansion,
faster processing, and reduced cost. It is riskier to have applications in-house and add protection
individually rather than to work as a group in the cloud so that any security can be applied to all
forms at once(SOURCE). Cloud computing is a service model delivering on-demand computing
resources over the Internet (Yuvaraj, 2015).
Problem Statement
Healthcare data is considered as private and most secured, as every individual wants to keep their
health data private and do not want to share this data without proper permission. "We have a
very active intelligence program. We don't rely just on our own monitoring. I work with a lot of
third parties. I work with our government agencies, with our own healthcare agencies, other
financial agencies to understand where the real threats are. You can't rely on your own systems.

4HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
You have to collaborate with other partners." (Chris Elwell, 2016). It is very difficult for one
organization to shield data from hackers, so it's better to work in virtual private cloud (VPC)
environment where security is maintained by technical giants. According to Google virtual
private cloud offering in 2017 there are around seven hundred security engineers working on
data security and monitoring any suspicious activity (Google Keynote, 2018). Data Security in
healthcare data is difficult to maintain for one organization. In Anthem data breach occurred on
database could have avoided if data is maintained in cloud. Data breach is an issue to millions of
customers in healthcare industry as this data leaks privacy of the citizens. Healthcare data is
difficult to maintain and to provide right data to right individual, In this study we will review
How data can be masked and encrypted before transferring data and maintaining security
through during transmission and receiving end.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to learn new technologies and see available options to mask
healthcare data and maintain its security. To review rules provided by National institute of
standards and technology (NIST) on HIPAA security rule as how data should be transferred to
mobile devices and follow Health Information Exchange (HIE) Security Architecture. These
rules are covered by many cloud providers and they claim as HIPAA certified cloud storage
(Google keynote, 2017). This study can guide any individual who wants to maintain healthcare
data either at Doctors office or a health insurance company to protect the privacy of the
individuals.
Nature of the Study
A mixed method design study was conducted with developers from healthcare industry to
provide feedback on better technologies and better methods to adapt for low system resources

5HEALTHCARE DATA SECURITY AND DATA MASKING
and high security for healthcare data. Data is collected and loaded in database table for analysis
and uses reporting tool to display results.
Significance of the Study
This study is important as it explains recent data breaches and check for loopholes in existing
systems and how to prevent it in happening in future. Study the hackers, their motivation for
data breaches and their funding, to know the source of attack and how it can be prevented or how
to build a shield. This study will overall help in applying latest technologies with high-security
measures on data. Protection can be applied at different levels as an operating level by
encryption and data level by data masking as if one is compromised other is of no value, and the
attack is detected. This study will adapt new technologies and how technical companies are
coming up with resolving potential data breach in systems.
Research Questions
The research questions that guided this study were:
Research Question 1: How safe is your healthcare data in the cloud ?
Research Question 2: What security measures do cloud computing companies provide to their
tenants?
Research Question 3: What security measures does healthcare companies take to data masking or
data encryption so that in case of data breach damages are minimized?
Research Question 4: Overall its public opinion and market sentiment needed from people as for
how they take up the changes in technology?
Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were tested: