Zero-Knowledge
Record-Level Security
for Healthcare
In the AI era, healthcare can no longer assume that every trusted system with access to plaintext PHI is safe. The security boundary has to move from the system to the record. Seald Healthcare encrypts each patient record individually and separates decryption authority from the data, so records stay encrypted wherever they are stored, accessed, or shared and decrypt only during authorized use under policy. A compromised system no longer exposes the patient data inside it.
The Problem
One Compromise
Can Expose Everything
Healthcare security depends on trusted systems with access to plaintext PHI. Encrypting data in transit and at rest is no longer sufficient, because a compromised credential, application, vendor, or AI agent turns trusted access into plaintext exposure. Those compromises are getting easier as credential theft and privilege escalation become automated and AI agents operate inside trusted systems with legitimate access to patient data. One compromise can expose thousands or millions of patient records.
1B+
Records exposed across 7,400+ breaches since 2009
$6.64M
Average healthcare breach cost in 2026, highest of any industry
80%+
Of stolen patient records taken from third-party vendors
380K+
Patient records breached every day in 2025
How Seald Healthcare Works
One Security Model Wherever Patient Data Goes
Seald Healthcare applies the same record-level security model whether a person reviews a record, software or AI processes it, or it is shared with another organization. There are three ways to deploy it, depending on the workflow.
Human Review
Secure Portal Access
Give authorized users access to protected patient records through a secure browser-based portal without requiring a native integration.
Best For
- Prior Authorization
- Appeals
- Clinical Review
- Case Management
- Referrals
Software & AI Agents
Native Integration
Use Seald Healthcare's API and SDK to let applications, vendors, and AI agents process patient data while limiting plaintext to authorized use.
Best For
- Claims Processing
- Eligibility
- AI Workflows
- Analytics
- Clearinghouses
- EHR Integrations
Business Continuity
Protected Storage
Keep patient records encrypted across databases, cloud storage, archives, backups, and disaster recovery while preserving authorized access and restoration.
Best For
- OneDrive
- Google Drive
- S3
- Databases
- Cloud Storage
- Archives
- Immutable Backups
- Disaster Recovery
The Perimeter Is Gone:
Securing Data in the Age of AI
AI is expanding healthcare’s attack surface. Every AI agent, copilot, and vendor with access to plaintext PHI is another path to a breach. This white paper explains why perimeter-based security no longer holds, why AI needs a verifiable chain of custody, and how record-level encryption keeps patient data protected wherever it is stored, accessed, or shared.
Why Existing Controls Aren’t Enough
Existing Controls Protect Systems, Not Records
Encryption at Rest & in Transit
Still Leaves Plaintext Exposed
Encryption at rest protects stored data. Encryption in transit protects data while it moves. But the applications, credentials, workloads, vendors, and AI agents authorized to use that data can still access plaintext PHI.
Protects
- Stored data
- Data in motion
Plaintext Still Exposed To
Every application, credential, vendor, and AI agent authorized to use the data
Tokenization
Protects the Token, Not the Record
Tokenization replaces sensitive data with surrogate values while the original plaintext remains in a lookup vault. Compromise the vault or an application authorized to access it, and the underlying PHI can still be exposed.
Protects
- Tokenized fields
Plaintext Still Exposed To
The lookup vault and every application authorized to query it
Infrastructure Security
Doesn’t Protect the Data Itself
Cloud providers secure the infrastructure they operate. You remain responsible for the data itself. Cloud, network, identity, endpoint, and application security protect the systems around patient data, not the record once a credential, workload, vendor, or cloud environment is compromised.
Protects
- Cloud
- Network
- Identity
- Endpoints
Plaintext Still Exposed To
Any compromised credential, workload, vendor, or cloud environment
With Seald Healthcare
Seald Healthcare encrypts the record itself and keeps decryption authority separate from the data. Holding or compromising the system that stores a record does not grant the right to decrypt it. An attacker using stolen credentials gets ciphertext, not patient data. Records decrypt only when policy authorizes it.
Marlow
AI for Operating Record-Level Security
Marlow is the AI that operates Seald Healthcare. It analyzes your contracts, BAAs, security requirements, and access rules and translates them into record-level policy. Once that policy is live, Marlow monitors decryption activity in real time, flags policy violations and unusual access, and stages revocations, key rotations, and policy changes for your approval. Every action is recorded in a tamper-evident audit log.
Policy Studio
Marlow · AITurn contracts, BAAs, and security requirements into enforceable record-level decryption policies.
- 1DescribeWhat to enforce
- 2ValidateMarlow checks it
- 3ReviewConfirm what it does
- 4Approve & DeployStage and go live
Analyze a Signed Agreement
Upload a BAA or vendor contract. Marlow extracts the access terms for you to confirm.
Marlow extracted 7 access terms
Evidence
Evidence Ready When You Need It
Verified encryption, access, decryption, revocation, and audit evidence, kept current automatically.
Marlow summarizes your protection status for any scope and time period. When an auditor, insurer, or regulator asks, generate a hash-verified, tamper-evident evidence pack in minutes and download it on the spot.
- PHI coverage and unauthorized decryption events
- Record-level encryption and key separation status
- A verifiable chain of custody for every access and change
- Revocation capability and Encryption Safe Harbor documentation
Evidence
Verified encryption, access, decryption, revocation, and audit evidence.
Marlow Evidence Summary
All Evidence CurrentRecord-level encryption covers 99.4% of monitored PHI, with no unauthorized decryption events in the last 90 days. Encryption Safe Harbor documentation is available.
- PHI Coverage
- 99.4%
- Unauthorized Decryption Events
- 0
- Record-Level Encryption
- AES-256-GCM
- Key Separation
- Verified
- Audit Trail IntegrityTamper-evident · hash-chained
- Revocation CapabilityReal-time · record-level
- Encryption Safe Harbor SupportDocumented
- Last Evidence RefreshJust now
HIPAA Safe Harbor
A Breach of Properly Encrypted PHI Is Not a Reportable Breach Per HHS
If protected health information is lost, stolen, or accessed by an unauthorized party, properly encrypted data remains unreadable and unusable. Under HHS guidance, properly encrypted PHI is not considered unsecured PHI when the decryption key or process has not also been compromised, and therefore does not trigger HIPAA breach-notification requirements. That means a security incident does not automatically become a reportable breach. The result can be reduced breach liability, lower cyber insurance costs, and a dramatically different outcome for your organization.
“Protected health information (PHI) is rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals if one or more of the following applies: electronic PHI has been encrypted as specified in the HIPAA Security Rule… such encryption renders the breach notification provisions of the HITECH Act inapplicable.”
No Public Disclosure
No 60-day notification clock, no HHS portal listing, no press release.
Reduced OCR Exposure
Demonstrated safeguards reduce regulatory and enforcement exposure.
Lower Insurance Premiums
Seald Healthcare’s demonstrable controls may qualify for carrier premium credits.
Why Now
Now Is the Time for
Record-Level Security
AI Breaks Perimeter Security
AI agents, copilots, and automated workflows now operate inside trusted environments with legitimate access to PHI. As AI expands the number of systems acting on patient data, trusted applications and identities can no longer be the final security boundary.
Regulation Is Catching Up
The proposed HIPAA Security Rule update would make encryption of ePHI mandatory, removing the longstanding addressable exception and raising the standard for how healthcare organizations protect patient data.
Encryption Is About to Change
Harvest-now, decrypt-later attacks put long-lived patient data at risk today. NIST has finalized post-quantum cryptography standards, and patient records can remain sensitive for decades. Seald Healthcare is post-quantum ready.
Built for Healthcare
Protect PHI Without Replacing the Systems That Use It
Seald Healthcare integrates alongside existing healthcare infrastructure through APIs, SDKs, secure portals, and native integrations, applying the same record-level security model across every organization that handles patient data.
- Hospitals
- Health Systems
- Academic Medical Centers
- Pharmacies
- PBMs
- Specialty Providers
- Telehealth
- Payers
- AI Workflows
- Healthcare Technology Platforms