The Telehealth Resources Project operates within the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare environment and must comply with strict security standards including HIPAA, VA IT security policies, and Microsoft Government Cloud requirements.

• PHI Protection: No Protected Health Information (PHI) stored in source code
• Access Logging: Complete audit trail for all patient data access
• Encryption: All data encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256)
• Access Controls: Role-based permissions with principle of least privilege

• FedRAMP Compliance: Microsoft Government Cloud (GCC High) deployment
• FISMA Standards: Federal Information Security Management Act compliance
• ATO Requirements: Authority to Operate documentation maintained
• STIG Compliance: Security Technical Implementation Guide adherence

• Data Residency: All data stored in US Government datacenters
• Personnel Screening: Microsoft staff undergo government background checks
• Compliance Certifications: FedRAMP High, DoD SRG Level 2, CJIS
• Network Isolation: Dedicated government cloud infrastructure

Hospital Active Directory → Azure AD Government → PowerApps
                                                    ↓
                               SharePoint Government Cloud
                                                    ↓
                               Power Automate Government

• Required: All users must enable MFA for hospital accounts
• Methods: Microsoft Authenticator app, hardware tokens, SMS (backup)
• Conditional Access: Location-based and device-based access controls

• Public: System documentation, help files
• Internal: Room schedules, availability calendars
• Confidential: User personal information, booking history
• Restricted: Administrative settings, audit logs

• In Transit: TLS 1.2+ for all web communications
• At Rest: AES-256 encryption for all stored data
• Database: SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
• Backup: Encrypted backup storage with key rotation

• Email Protection: O365 DLP policies prevent PHI transmission
• Document Scanning: Automatic detection of sensitive data patterns
• Download Restrictions: Prevent bulk data export by unauthorized users
• Copy/Paste Controls: Clipboard monitoring for sensitive information

Internet → VA Firewall → DMZ → Internal Network → Application Servers
                                     ↓
                              SharePoint Online Gov
                                     ↓
                              PowerApps Government

• Web Application Firewall: Azure WAF protection against OWASP Top 10
• DDoS Protection: Azure DDoS Protection Standard
• IP Restrictions: Hospital network IP allowlisting
• Certificate Pinning: SSL certificate validation and monitoring

1. Threat Modeling: STRIDE analysis for each component
2. Static Analysis: PowerApps solution checker automated scanning
3. Dynamic Testing: Penetration testing for production deployment
4. Code Review: Security-focused review of all PowerShell scripts
5. Dependency Scanning: Regular updates to all platform components

• PowerApps: Built-in data type validation and sanitization
• SharePoint: Column-level validation rules and constraints
• Power Automate: Input schema validation and error handling
• Custom Scripts: PowerShell parameter validation and sanitization

1. Immediate Response Required:

   • Contact: VA IT Security Team
   • Phone: [Hospital IT Emergency Line]
   • Email: [Secure Internal Email]

2. Non-Critical Issues:

   • Create incident in hospital IT ticketing system
   • Include detailed description and steps to reproduce
   • Tag with "Security" priority level

If you discover a security vulnerability in our public-facing components:

1. DO NOT create public GitHub issues for security vulnerabilities
2. DO NOT test vulnerabilities against production systems
3. DO send detailed reports to: [security-contact@hospital-domain]

• Detailed description of the vulnerability
• Steps to reproduce the issue
• Potential impact assessment
• Suggested remediation approach
• Your contact information for follow-up

• Daily: PowerApps solution checker for formula validation
• Weekly: SharePoint permissions audit
• Monthly: Dependency vulnerability scanning
• Quarterly: Comprehensive security assessment

• Bi-Annual: Professional penetration testing
• Annual: Full security architecture review
• As-Needed: Incident-driven security analysis

• User Activities: All booking actions logged with timestamps
• Administrative Changes: Complete audit trail for system modifications
• Authentication Events: Login attempts, MFA usage, failures
• Data Access: SharePoint access logs with user attribution

• Failed Authentication: Multiple failed login attempts
• Privilege Escalation: Unauthorized permission changes
• Data Export: Bulk data download activities
• System Changes: Modifications to critical system components

• Security Logs: 7 years (VA requirement)
• Audit Logs: 3 years (compliance requirement)
• Performance Logs: 1 year (operational requirement)
• Debug Logs: 90 days (development requirement)

1. Security Patches: Applied within 72 hours of release
2. Platform Updates: Monthly maintenance windows
3. Feature Updates: Quarterly with security review
4. Emergency Updates: Immediate deployment for critical vulnerabilities

• Security Review: All changes reviewed by IT Security team
• Testing: Security testing in non-production environment
• Approval: Director-level approval for security-impacting changes
• Documentation: Complete change documentation and rollback procedures

• Category 1: Active breach with data exfiltration
• Category 2: Suspected unauthorized access
• Category 3: Security control failure or bypass
• Category 4: Policy violation or configuration error

• Incident Commander: IT Security Manager
• Technical Lead: Senior Systems Administrator
• Legal Counsel: Hospital Legal Department
• Communications: Public Affairs Officer (if needed)

1. Detection & Analysis: Identify scope and impact
2. Containment: Isolate affected systems
3. Eradication: Remove threats and vulnerabilities
4. Recovery: Restore normal operations
5. Post-Incident: Lessons learned and process improvement

• All Users: Annual HIPAA privacy training
• IT Staff: VA IT security awareness (quarterly)
• Developers: Secure coding practices (bi-annual)
• Administrators: Advanced security management (annual)

• Phishing recognition and reporting
• Password and MFA best practices
• Data handling and classification
• Incident reporting procedures
• Social engineering awareness

• Hospital IT Security Team: [Internal Contact]
• VA Cybersecurity: [VA IT Security Contact]
• Microsoft Support: [Government Cloud Support]
• Emergency Response: [24/7 IT Emergency Line]

This security policy is reviewed and updated quarterly to ensure compliance with evolving threats and regulations.

Last Updated: November 21, 2025