Masking Salesforce data is a critical aspect of properly protecting the sensitive information entrusted to healthcare companies.
Why It Matters: Patients, clients, and customers of healthcare companies trust the organization with their most sensitive data. Failing to protect this information leads to the loss of consumer trust and even fines and penalties for lack of compliance with data security regulations.
- Healthcare companies face heightened cybersecurity challenges due to the highly sensitive nature of the data inherent to the industry.
- Data breaches of healthcare information can be incredibly damaging for patients.
Here are 10 reasons data masking is critical for protecting healthcare data on Salesforce:
- Protects Patient Privacy
- Ensures Regulatory Compliance
- Prevents Insider Threats
- Supports Secure Testing and Development
- Mitigates the Impact of a Data Breach
- Protects Against Third-Party Risks
- Enables Secure Data Sharing
- Reduces Legal and Financial Risks
- Enhances Patient Trust
- Offers Continuous Coverage Against Evolving Threats
1. Protects Patient Privacy
Patient privacy needs to be top of mind for all healthcare companies. Patients come for help with their physical health, but the security of their data is equally important.
Data masking ensures personally identifiable information (PII) is anonymized, reducing the risk of unauthorized exposure and keeping the organization in line with laws like HIPAA.
2. Regulatory Compliance
Data security regulations are in place to ensure the safe handling of sensitive information. Adhering to these guidelines not only helps the organization avoid costly fines and penalties, but also protects sensitive data.
GDPR and HIPAA both rely on practices like data masking to ensure sensitive data can not be improperly accessed or used during testing, development, or analytics.
3. Prevents Insider Threats
We don’t want to believe it, but sometimes cyberthreats come from inside the house.
Masking sensitive data reduces the risk of malicious or accidental insider breaches by limiting access to real patient information.
4. Supports Secure Testing and Development
Developers and testers often need access to realistic data. However, utilizing real-world data can make it more vulnerable to exposure without the right safeguards.
Masked data retains its utility for testing while removing the risks associated with using actual patient information.
5. Mitigates the Impact of a Data Breach
Even the strongest systems are still capable of experiencing a data breach. This is why instilling multiple layers of security is a best practice for organizations in every industry, but particularly for those like healthcare, which handles large amounts of sensitive data.
Data masking ensures that even if Salesforce data is leaked, it is still unusable by bad actors, minimizing the impact.
6. Protects Against Third-Party Risks
Many healthcare organizations customize their Salesforce platform by integrating the services of third-party vendors. And while these integrations expand functionality, they also introduce potential security vulnerabilities.
Third-party vendors often need access to healthcare data for integrations or analytics. Data masking ensures these collaborators do not gain access to sensitive patient information.
7. Enables Secure Data Sharing
Healthcare organizations frequently share data for research, partnerships, or analytics. This expands knowledge while helping find solutions to complex issues.
Masking this data ensures shared datasets protect patient confidentiality while remaining useful for collaboration.
8. Reduces Legal and Financial Risks
We’ve mentioned how data security regulations need to be researched and followed by healthcare organizations due to the sensitivity of the data they handle. Breaches of this data lead to compliance failures and the potential for significant fines and lawsuits.
Protecting sensitive data with data masking reduces the likelihood of falling out of compliance, as well as the possibility of being hit with costly fines and penalties.
9. Enhances Patient Trust
Trust is everything for healthcare providers. Patients trust their healthcare companies with not only their sensitive data, but at times, their lives.
Patients are more likely to trust healthcare providers who demonstrate robust measures are in place to secure their sensitive data. Data masking is a visible commitment to protecting patient privacy.
10. Offers Continuous Coverage Against Evolving Threats
Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The advent of artificial intelligence has recently expanded the potential for harm in ways we’re still trying to wrap our heads around.
Data masking provides an additional layer of security, making sensitive healthcare data much more difficult for cybercriminals to exploit.
Next Step…
Protecting sensitive data is a constant concern for healthcare companies. And unfortunately, the challenges that face the security of your data are constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Only a contemporary approach will give you the best chance at protecting your data.
Our ebook lists the Top 5 Threats to Healthcare Data Security and Compliance in 2025 and digs into the emerging cybersecurity threats that will pose the largest risk to your data this year.