EvidenceSheet
HIPAA Security Rule · Technical

164.312(e)(1) Transmission Security (Standard)

Implement technical security measures to guard against unauthorized access to ePHI transmitted over an electronic communications network. NIST recommends encrypted transport, secure email, and validated VPN.

Source: HIPAA Security Rule, 164.312(e)(1). The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open HIPAA Security Rule in the compliance library.

Applies to covered entities and business associates. An addressable specification can be met by a documented, reasonable alternative.

4
artefacts
2
held by a system
1
at each review
easy
to go live
Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
where the evidence lives
teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

  • TLS configuration scans · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • VPN configuration evidence · Cloud console / configuration management

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Secure email gateway records · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Transport encryption standard · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling. Scan schedule, findings and remediation age straight from the scanner; patch compliance from the patch console.

Common gaps auditors find

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

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164.312(d) Person or Entity Authentication (Standard) · 164.312(e)(2)(i) Integrity Controls for Transmission (Addressable)