How to Answer Encryption Questions in a Security Questionnaire
Encryption questions are common because buyers want to know whether data is protected while it moves and where it is stored. The risky part is that teams often answer too broadly. “Yes, everything is encrypted” sounds simple, but it may not be accurate enough.
Quick note
This guide is practical product education, not legal advice, security advice, SOC 2 certification, GDPR certification, or compliance certification. Review every answer against your actual product and company processes before sending it to a buyer.
Separate in transit and at rest
Encryption in transit usually means traffic between the user and your application is protected with HTTPS/TLS. Encryption at rest usually means stored data is encrypted by the database, object storage, disk, or managed provider. Keep those answers separate.
Mention provider-managed controls carefully
If you rely on Supabase, AWS, GCP, Azure, Vercel, or another managed provider, say that the service provides infrastructure-level controls, then verify the exact feature before committing.
Avoid vague phrases
“Industry standard encryption” is not enough. It sounds polished, but it does not tell the buyer much. Better wording: “Application traffic is protected with HTTPS/TLS. Storage encryption depends on the managed database/storage provider configuration and should be verified before final response.”
Be honest about gaps
If you do not know whether a specific field is encrypted separately at the application layer, say it needs review. Do not imply field-level encryption unless it exists.
Save the reviewed answer
Once you confirm the details, save the answer. Encryption questions appear repeatedly, so a reviewed answer can save time later.
Make this easier in VettBase
VettBase helps small SaaS teams draft security questionnaire answers, save reviewed wording, reuse approved answers, and flag missing information before sending unsupported claims.