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Data Loss Prevention

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Frequently Asked Questions

What is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?

DLP enables an organization to reduce the risk of unintentional disclosure of sensitive data by identifying, monitoring and protecting confidential data while in use, in motion and at rest.

How will the DLP technology reduce risk?

DLP enhancements reduce risk in multiple ways:

  1. It will ensure sensitive data that is detected in an outgoing message and/or attachment sent to external recipients is protected from unauthorized viewing.
  2. It will prevent intentional or unintentional dissemination of sensitive data to unauthorized external location such as peer-to-peer file sharing, FTP sites, webmail and smartphone and PDA synchronization tools.

What is considered sensitive data?

Sensitive data includes protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) such as an individual's medical record, address, gender, social security number, credit card numbers, date-of-birth or any other identifiable health information.

Why does UCI Health need DLP?

HIPAA/HITECH regulations require organizations to identify confidential data within their information systems and minimize security and privacy risks associated with the use of that data. UCI Health patients have the expectation that we will only use their personal information as required to deliver quality services and will guard that information against inappropriate access, use and disclosure.

What changes will I see with DLP?

UCI Health is implementing Code Green DLP solution that will identify sensitive data in our organization and how it is being used. Additionally has partnered with ZixCorp to provide email encryption services.

The DLP solution will be implemented in three phases:

Phase I: All user email traffic will be automatically analyzed by the Code Green DLP solution. DLP scans outgoing mail to ensure that sensitive information such as social security numbers or HIPAA-covered information is not being sent insecurely. When a match is found in an email the message is blocked from delivery and the sender is notified via email with instructions on how to send the message securely.

Phase II: The Code Green DLP solution will scan various resources such as SharePoint, laptops, desktops, and share drives for sensitive data. Note that non-UCI managed devices are excluded.

Phase III: All Web traffic leaving the UCI Health network will be analyzed by the Code Green DLP solution.

If I have a question or concern about the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) program who do I contact?

For assistance with DLP issues, please contact the UCI Health Service Desk any time:

714-456-3333 – Orange Campus
949-824-3434 – Irvine Campus
Email: ndchelp@hs.uci.edu

Is email the only system affected by the DLP program?

No. Email is the first phase of our DLP program. The DLP technology will also include monitoring and analyzing all web traffic leaving UCI Health network for sensitive data. DLP will scan and analyze various resources such as Desktops, Laptops, share drives and share point sites for confidential information. Communication will be distributed as DLP features are implemented in second and third phase.

Why am I receiving a DLP Email notification?

Effective Tuesday, March 14, 2017, email containing sensitive data, such as PHI, Social Security numbers, and credit card numbers, being sent insecurely to an external mail recipient will be blocked.

If your email was intended for an internal HS recipient, it may have been blocked due to the HS Office 365 migration currently in progress. Until all HS users are converted, please use @hs.uci.edu when emailing PHI to HS users, or include [ucsecure] in the subject field.

What should I do if an email has been blocked?

A member of the Compliance & Privacy Office will contact you. You may also reach out to them directly at 888-456-7006/hacompliance@uci.edu. If the blocked email needs to be delivered immediately, please re-send it by adding "[UCSecure]" in the subject line.

How do I encrypt or securely send email that contains confidential information?

There are two ways to encrypt an e-mail message sent from the University E-mail Service:

Subject Line Phrase

  • Include the phrase “[ucsecure]” –brackets included, anywhere in the Subject of your message. This option will work with Outlook Web App (OWA) and any UCI Health E-mail Service supported client.
  • Because the encryption phrase is in the Subject line and will not automatically be removed, the message will be encrypted in any reply or forward sent from the UCI Health E-mail Service.

You will receive notifications in your inbox as secure messages are read by intended recipients.

How does the policy work to determine which emails get encrypted?

UCI Health’s Secure Mail provides HIPAA content recognition to facilitate HIPAA-compliance with PHI. It does so by searching for two categories one being personal identifiable information (patient ID number, subscriber ID number, social security number, etc.) and medical terms, medical conditions, etc. When a match is found in both categories, the message will be encrypted.

Why are we implementing secure messaging?

With the adoption of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), it is required that all communications containing Protected Health Information (PHI) be secured. PHI refers to information that identifies you with a disease or condition or test or treatment. Since e-mail communication between you and External Associates typically involves scheduling appointments with healthcare providers, we felt it was important to protect the confidentiality of that information, so that only YOU have access to the information.

What is secure messaging?

Secure Messaging is the process of sending encrypted e-mail messages using Proofpoint’s Method of Delivery.

When will the e-mail message expire for the Recipient?

After 14 days access the encrypted email will expire.

If after 14 days a message is not read in the portal, both the sender and recipient will receive an automatic notification that the message has not been read.

If after 30 days a message is not read in the portal, the sender will receive a notification that the message has not been read before the message is deleted.

What is the maximum size of attachments?

Attachments are supported as part of the Compose, Forward and Reply actions. You can click on the Attach Files button and select the file(s) you wish to attach to the message. The maximum number of files that can be attached is 10, and their total file size cannot exceed 10MB.