Client Overview
- Industry: Digital Health / SaaS
- Product: Cloud-based platform for appointment booking, e-prescriptions, and patient record management
- Use Case: Clinics, diagnostic labs, healthcare professionals
A rapidly growing health-tech startup offering cloud-based patient services began facing serious cybersecurity concerns that threatened user trust, data integrity, and regulatory compliance.
Problem Statement
The application experienced the following cybersecurity incidents:
- Unexpected session terminations and hijacks, impacting user continuity
- Unauthorized visibility into sensitive patient data, indicating broken access controls
- No formal vulnerability testing or structured incident response plan in place
- Regulatory non-alignment with HIPAA and GDPR data protection standards
These vulnerabilities placed both the company and its users at risk of data breaches, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties.
Cybersecurity-Driven Solution by Aiyanaar
Aiyanaar launched a full-scale security hardening and risk mitigation strategy, incorporating modern cybersecurity practices and regulatory frameworks:
1. Threat Modeling & Risk Categorization
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Conducted detailed mapping of all potential attack surfaces, including:
o API endpoints o Login/authentication workflows
o Encrypted and unencrypted data repositories
o Third-party SDKs and integrations -
Identified key risks such as:
o Broken authentication
o Insecure session handling
o Exposure of sensitive data at rest and in transit
o Access control misconfigurations
2. Incident Response & Monitoring Setup
- Deployed lightweight SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) to capture logs and detect anomalies
- Developed and enforced a threat alert matrix for severity-based escalation
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Authored internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for:
o Handling suspected breaches
o Escalation workflows
o Real-time containment and forensic response - Trained QA, DevOps, and IT teams on Secure SDLC practices and cybersecurity hygiene
3. Remediation & Preventive Security Measures
- 3. Remediation & Preventive Security Measures
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Enforced:
o Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
o Session token expiration and refresh logic
o TLS 1.2+ encryption on all endpoints
o Data minimization and tokenization in storage
Impact
- Zero reported security breaches after deployment of remediation measures
- HIPAA and GDPR alignment achieved, supporting safer patient data operations
- Marked increase in platform trust and reliability among clinical users
- Quarterly vulnerability assessments established as a recurring part of product release cycles
Reusability
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The cybersecurity framework has since been replicated and adapted for:
1. An elder-care wearable dashboard, ensuring safe biometric data monitoring
2. A teleconsultation platform for emerging markets, supporting data privacy in low-connectivity environments - The approach is scalable and portable to any health-tech or SaaS environment handling PHI (Protected Health Information) or PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
Conclusion
The approach is scalable and portable to any health-tech or SaaS environment handling PHI (Protected Health Information) or PII (Personally Identifiable Information).