HIPAA Safeguards for Data in Motion: Securing Legacy Healthcare Networks
Hospitals across the US rely on legacy infrastructure that was never built to meet today’s cybersecurity demands. MRI scanners, patient monitors, and lab systems often run on outdated operating systems. Replacing them is challenging and costly. Many of these machines are FDA-certified, and any software change can trigger a recertification process, leading to costly downtime.
But while the hardware stays stuck in the past, the regulations don’t. Protected Health Information (PHI) must still meet the security and privacy requirements laid out in HIPAA. That’s the challenge facing nearly every hospital IT team: how to meet modern data protection requirements using outdated, hard-to-replace systems.
The Financial Risk of Securing Data Using Legacy Equipment
Outdated equipment might slow down care delivery, but it also creates risk exposure.
- HIPAA penalties now exceed $1.9 million per violation category, per year, based on 2025 federal updates.
- The average healthcare breach costs more than $10 million – the highest across all sectors.
- Patient trust is fragile. One incident can erode public confidence and invite scrutiny from regulators, auditors, and the media.
Modernizing every device might seem like the obvious fix, but for most hospitals, it’s not realistic. A full replacement effort could reach tens of millions of dollars and disrupt clinical operations. That’s why security teams are shifting focus to a more viable approach: protecting the data itself, especially while it’s in transit.
Why PHI in Transit Is the Hidden Vulnerability
Most healthcare security strategies focus on the perimeter: firewalls, segmentation, endpoint protection. These controls are necessary, but they don’t address the most frequently exploited gap: protecting data in motion.
Every imaging file, lab result, or EHR update moving across a network is a potential breach point. If data isn’t protected during transmission, perimeter security alone won’t stop attackers from capturing or altering it.
This is where Certes DPRM (Data Protection & Risk Mitigation) comes in.
How Certes DPRM Secures PHI Without Touching the Device
Certes solves this problem without forcing hospitals to change their infrastructure. DPRM protects PHI directly at the data-flow level. Instead of relying on firewalls or device security, DPRM applies security policies to each stream of data in transit.
Each data flow is individually protected using its own encryption key, policy, and rotation schedule. Even if these flows run across the same network, they remain fully isolated from one another. If one stream were somehow compromised, the attacker wouldn’t gain access to anything else.
This approach allows hospitals to maintain their FDA-certified systems and existing infrastructure while securing PHI to support HIPAA’s transmission safeguards.
Meeting HIPAA Safeguards with Crypto-Segmented Data Flows
The HIPAA Security Rule mandates protection against unauthorized access during transmission and requires healthcare organizations to ensure the integrity of PHI.
Certes supports these mandates by:
- Securing data in transit across internal, cloud, and third-party networks.
- Isolating each data flow using crypto-segmentation, making compromise of one stream irrelevant to the others.
- Enabling centralized control over key rotation, policy enforcement, and auditability.
This means hospitals can enforce strong technical safeguards while avoiding major infrastructure overhauls or device replacement.
Quantum-Safe PHI Protection for Future-Proof Compliance
The risks don’t stop at traditional encryption vulnerabilities. Quantum computing is no longer a distant research topic. Cyber criminals are already stockpiling encrypted healthcare data, ready for the quantum era that will allow them to decrypt it.
Certes addresses this head-on. DPRM integrates post-quantum cryptography today. That means secured PHI now stays secure, even when quantum computers become commercially viable. This future-proofing is critical for any provider handling sensitive patient data, especially as regulatory frameworks begin to incorporate quantum readiness into their enforcement standards.
Extend System Life. Reduce Risk. Avoid the Breach.
Not every hospital can afford to replace its equipment. But no healthcare provider can afford a breach. Certes offers a path forward that doesn’t force a decision between modernization and security.
DPRM allows hospitals to extend the life of their legacy systems while still aligning with HIPAA safeguards. It reduces breach risk without touching the device. And it protects patient data in transit, even if attackers breach the network.
The result is a security model that works with what hospitals have today, while preparing them for what’s next.
Ready to See It in Action?
If you’re leading cybersecurity for a healthcare organization, don’t wait for the next breach or audit. You don’t need to replace every system to protect your patients’ data.
Our latest whitepaper breaks down how Certes DPRM helps meet key HIPAA requirements while reducing operational risk and avoiding the need to replace critical infrastructure. Read it here.