HIPAA Compliance Checker

Check SSL/TLS HIPAA compliance for healthcare data protection

About HIPAA Compliance

The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to implement technical safeguards to protect electronic protected health information (ePHI), including encryption of data in transit. Our HIPAA Compliance Checker evaluates your server's TLS configuration against HIPAA requirements, checking for modern encryption protocols, strong cipher suites, and proper certificate management to ensure your data transmission meets healthcare regulatory standards.

How to Use

Enter the domain name of the server handling ePHI that you want to check.
Click Check Compliance to scan the server's TLS configuration.
Review the HIPAA compliance score and individual security check results.
Address any failed checks to ensure your server meets HIPAA encryption requirements.

Use Cases

Healthcare Compliance: Verify that servers handling ePHI meet HIPAA encryption standards for data in transit.
BA Agreements: Assess business associate servers for HIPAA-compliant TLS configurations before sharing patient data.
Audit Preparation: Prepare for HIPAA audits by documenting your encryption compliance status.
Remediation Planning: Identify specific TLS weaknesses that need to be addressed for HIPAA compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

HIPAA does not mandate specific technologies but requires implementing addressable implementation specifications. Encryption of ePHI in transit is considered an addressable standard, and failure to encrypt when deemed appropriate must be documented with an equivalent alternative measure.

HIPAA does not specify a particular TLS version, but HHS guidance recommends using NIST-approved cryptography. TLS 1.2 and 1.3 are considered acceptable, while TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are deprecated and should not be relied upon for ePHI protection.

Both require encryption of data in transit, but HIPAA specifically focuses on ePHI and includes administrative and physical safeguard requirements. GDPR focuses on personal data of EU citizens and has broader scope. Both need modern TLS configurations for compliance.

No, and no scanner could establish that. The Security Rule covers administrative, physical and technical safeguards, and what is testable from outside is the transmission subset. Risk analysis, access controls, audit controls, contingency planning and the physical safeguards are all obligations this page cannot assess. Compliance is established by implementing the safeguards and documenting it, not by passing a scan.

Because a version floor is the enforceable form of that requirement. Named protocol versions are testable by any assessor and cannot be satisfied by configuration, so specifying one creates a clear line. In practice the practical effect is that anything below 1.2 is non-compliant outright, which is why enabling 1.2 or 1.3 is the minimum action and disabling everything older is what actually satisfies it.

Not by name, but it supports the intent. The Security Rule requires protecting against reasonably anticipated threats, and a long-term key that can decrypt years of recorded traffic is a recognised risk. Forward secrecy limits the damage of a future key compromise to future traffic only. This page grades it medium rather than high, reflecting that it is good practice supporting the requirement rather than a line item within it.

Also required, and not covered here. HIPAA requires encryption of electronic protected health information at rest as an addressable implementation specification, which means assessing whether it is reasonable in your circumstances and documenting the decision either way. Database volumes, backups and logs all need consideration, and none of it is visible to a network check. Treat this page as the transport half of a much broader obligation.

Yes. Internal certificates usually chain to a private root that no public trust store contains, and a network scan from outside your perimeter will report them as unverifiable even though they work perfectly inside. That outcome is a reminder of where the trust boundary sits rather than a fault. For internal estates, verify with tooling that trusts your own roots, and keep this page focused on what crosses the boundary.

What the Check Covers

HIPAA's technical safeguard requirements for transmitted electronic protected health information are specific and testable. This page checks that subset against a live connection.

1Require TLS 1.2 or better, read from the negotiated version. Older versions do not meet the standard's protection requirement regardless of cipher strength.
2Reject weak ciphers — RC4, DES, 3DES, NULL, export and MD5-based suites — on the grounds that they fail to protect patient data adequately. The check is on what was negotiated, which is what a connection actually used.
3Check key size and forward secrecy, with the first treated as high severity and forward secrecy as medium. The split reflects real risk: an inadequate key undermines protection now, while missing forward secrecy is a risk that materialises on a future key compromise.

HIPAA compliance extends far beyond transport: access controls, audit logging, encryption at rest, risk analysis and workforce policies are all in scope. This page covers the transmission safeguards that happen to be observable from outside.

Tips & Best Practices

•Verify TLS configuration meets HIPAA security requirements
•Use strong encryption for protected health information (PHI)
•Document TLS security measures for HIPAA compliance evidence
•Monitor TLS configuration for ongoing HIPAA compliance

Technical Details

Regulation: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance
Requirements: Encryption standards, key management, and security controls
Audit: TLS configuration compliance assessment
Output: HIPAA compliance status with remediation recommendations