Security Patterns for RAG
RAG introduces new data flows—ingestion pipelines, indexes, embeddings, and LLM calls. We design controls across every layer: identity, network, storage, application, and operations. Explore our RAG Development Services and domain guidance for Healthcare and Legal.
Core Controls
- Least Privilege: Role-based access, scoped tokens, and service accounts.
- Encryption: TLS everywhere, at-rest encryption for indexes and object stores, CMK/KMS support.
- Network Isolation: Private subnets/VPCs, egress controls, and allowlisted endpoints.
- Secrets Management: Vault-backed secrets and automatic rotation.
- PII Redaction: Ingestion-time scrubbing and run-time filters.
- Guardrails: Allow/deny lists, jailbreak mitigations, and safe fallbacks.
- Auditability: Query/response logging, lineage on citations, and anomaly alerts.
- Data Residency: Regional storage and routing aligned to policy.
Compliance Considerations
We align RAG architectures with your governance program—privacy impact assessments, data maps, and control objectives. Typical frameworks include HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2. For CRM and support data, see RAG for CRM and RAG for Sales & Marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Enforce least privilege, encrypt in transit and at rest, isolate networks, centralize secrets, and maintain complete audit logs with alerting.
Use field-level redaction, strict retention, and guardrails that prevent sensitive content from being returned or stored unnecessarily.
Yes—when designed with data minimization, user rights processes, access controls, auditability, and regional data residency where applicable.
Isolate environments, restrict outbound calls, implement content filtering, and alert on anomalous patterns such as mass export prompts.
Yes—via your KMS/HSM with envelope encryption and rotation policies, plus auditing to verify access events.