Enabling Secure HTTPS with AWS Certificate Manager

Enabling Secure HTTPS with AWS Certificate Manager for OneCare Domains

In securing the OneCare platform’s public-facing domains and APIs, OneData Software makes use of AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) to establish TLS/SSL certificates, enforce secure connection policies, and maintain ongoing certificate lifecycle management. While the public site doesn’t provide full technical diagrams, this approach fits with their general cloud consulting and healthcare app offerings.

Key Elements of What Such an Implementation Would Involve

1. Custom Domain Names & Certificate Provisioning o For each OneCare domain (web-application, API endpoints, mobile endpoints if applicable), OneData configures custom domain names. o ACM is used to issue publicly trusted SSL/TLS certificates for these domains (e.g. *.onecare.example or onecare.com).

2. Integration with Application Delivery o The certificates are integrated with AWS services that serve HTTPS: e.g., Application Load Balancers (ALB), CloudFront distributions (for static or CDN content), API Gateway for APIs, etc. o Ensures that inbound traffic is only accepted over HTTPS (listeners on port 443, redirecting HTTP → HTTPS if needed).

3. Managed Certificate Lifecycle o ACM handles renewals automatically, reducing risk of expired certificates. o OneData ensures domain validation (via DNS or email) is set up so certificate renewals proceed without downtime.

4. Security Best Practices o Enforce strong TLS protocols and ciphers. o Use HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) if appropriate. o Ensure minimal exposure: only required ports open, limit access as needed.

5. Compliance & Trust o For a healthcare application, encryption in transit is essential for regulatory compliance (e.g. HIPAA, etc.) and for user trust. o Providing HTTPS ensures privacy, data integrity, and authenticity of communication.

6. Monitoring & Alerts o Monitor certificate status, validity, upcoming expiry. o Use AWS monitoring / logging to detect insecure HTTP fallback, or mixed-content (HTTP embedded resources), certificate misconfigurations.

7. Domain Management & DNS Integration o Use DNS records (via Route 53 or another DNS provider) to validate domain ownership for ACM certificate issuance (DNS/Email validation). o Manage aliases or domain aliases properly.

Benefits

• Ensures all user interactions with OneCare domains are encrypted, protecting personal health information, patient-doctor communications, and compliance requirements. • Reduces the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks, eavesdropping, or certificate-related security failures. • Improves user trust: seeing “HTTPS” in address bar, correct padlock, etc. • Reduced overhead in managing certificate expiry manually — ACM’s automation helps prevent service outages due to expired certificates.