CCSP Legal, Risk, and Compliance Practice Question
A covered entity under HIPAA is planning to migrate electronic protected health information (ePHI) to a public cloud environment. Which of the following is a mandatory requirement before using the cloud service?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Obtain a signed Business Associate Agreement from the cloud provider
HIPAA requires covered entities to obtain satisfactory assurances that PHI will be protected, typically through a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the cloud provider.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Encrypt all ePHI with keys managed solely by the covered entity
Why it's wrong here
Encryption is addressable, not mandatory, and key management can be shared.
- ✗
Conduct a physical on-site audit of the cloud provider's data centers
Why it's wrong here
Physical audits are not mandatory; a BAA and security assessments suffice.
- ✓
Obtain a signed Business Associate Agreement from the cloud provider
Why this is correct
A BAA is required to ensure the cloud provider agrees to safeguard ePHI.
- ✗
Ensure the cloud provider is certified under the Privacy Shield framework
Why it's wrong here
Privacy Shield is invalid and not specific to HIPAA.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CCSP exam.