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Encrypt sensitive data at rest, not just in transit

1-2 hr Impact: medium Effort: medium ✓ Manual completion

Encrypting sensitive data at rest means your database and backup storage protect data even when it is sitting still, not moving, complementing the in-transit protection HTTPS already provides for data actively being transmitted.

HTTPS protects data moving between browser and server, but a compromised database or a stolen backup file exposes everything in plain readable form unless the data itself is also encrypted at rest.

How to do it

  1. 1
    Identify your genuinely sensitive data fields
    Customer personal information, payment details, anything meaningfully sensitive if exposed.
  2. 2
    Confirm your database supports and has encryption at rest enabled
    Most modern managed database services offer this as a configuration option.
  3. 3
    Confirm backup storage is also encrypted
    A backup file is just as exposed as the live database if it is not also encrypted.
  4. 4
    Verify encryption is genuinely active, not just available
    Confirm the actual setting is enabled, not just theoretically supported by the platform.

Common mistakes

How you will know it is done

Sensitive data in your database and backups is confirmed encrypted at rest.

Related missions

Create an employee or contractor offboarding security checklistWrite a documented data breach notification planSet a session timeout policy for all admin accounts

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