Database Encryption Patterns for HIPAA and PCI: TDE, Column Encryption, and Key Management

Req 3.5

PCI DSS requirement governing cryptographic key management for cardholder data protection

Database encryption choices have direct compliance implications. Transparent Data Encryption satisfies HIPAA's addressable encryption specification and PCI DSS Req 3.5 at the storage layer â€” but a privileged database user can still read every row. Column-level encryption protects individual fields from privileged users but adds application complexity and can break queries. Application-level encryption with key-per-tenant architecture is the most isolated pattern but the hardest to implement correctly. The key management hierarchy â€” how KMS wraps DEKs, how DEKs wrap column keys â€” is what survives a breach investigation.

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Database Encryption Patterns for HIPAA and PCI: TDE, Column Encryption, and Key Management

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