As government systems face growing pressure to deliver citizen services digitally, with trust, speed, and security, one truth stands out: availability is meaningless without integrity. In the post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) world, as millions of Americans rely on state-run portals for healthcare access, any lapse in cybersecurity becomes more than a technical issue, it becomes a crisis of public health and confidence.
A prime example is Kentucky’s health exchange platform, kynect, one of the most effective public-facing systems born out of the ACA. Developed in partnership with Deloitte, kynect wasn’t just a website; it became a model for secure healthcare delivery at scale. Its successful launch demonstrated what’s possible when cybersecurity is treated not as an afterthought but as a core design principle from day one. Among those shaping this security-first approach was Amrit Singh, a Senior IEEE Member and a Product Security Engineer at Amazon.
From Coverage to Confidence: Engineering Security into Public Health
In 2013, as the ACA rollout tested digital readiness across the country, Kentucky distinguished itself as a national leader in healthcare enrollment. But what set the state apart wasn’t just high enrollment numbers, it was the invisible infrastructure of trust built through sound cybersecurity practices, driven by experts like Amrit, who served as a cybersecurity architect on the kynect project during his time at Deloitte.
Ahead of launch, the platform underwent a comprehensive security review that revealed critical vulnerabilities in the codebase, issues that, if left unaddressed, could have compromised the Personally Identifiable Information of thousands. Singh led key aspects of this effort, overseeing code-level analysis and coordinating web application penetration testing to ensure risks were mitigated before the system went live. “We weren’t just checking boxes,” Singh noted. “We were embedding trust into a platform that millions would depend on.”
This work wasn’t about compliance, it was about building confidence into a digital gateway for healthcare. As cybersecurity experts later observed, kynect’s resilience came not only from its functionality, but from its ability to safeguard data during a moment of unprecedented demand.
Why the Kynect Model Still Matters
The scale of kynect’s impact was undeniable. Before its launch, 15% of Kentuckians were uninsured. By April 2014, more than 413,000 had enrolled. The platform met all federal ACA compliance standards, from Qualified Health Plan (QHP) certification to stringent data protection protocols. Behind the scenes, Amrit helped ensure this success by applying advanced encryption and access control frameworks that scaled seamlessly with user growth.
This kind of scale with security wasn’t accidental, it was engineered. “We designed kynect not just to meet requirements, but to anticipate evolving threats,” Singh explained, underscoring the idea that cybersecurity must evolve alongside policy and user needs, especially in public sector applications.
The long-term implications were significant. A Deloitte study projected that kynect contributed over $819 million in financial benefit from 2014 to 2021. Meanwhile, estimates suggested that dismantling the platform could cost the state over $23 million, highlighting that secure systems are not just safer, but often more sustainable.
Anticipating Risk in Systems That Serve Millions
The kynect experience offers a replicable playbook for digital platforms in public services, fintech, and healthtech, domains where system uptime, personal data, and regulatory compliance intersect. Its security architecture emphasized proactive threat modeling, rigorous pre-launch penetration testing, agile vulnerability remediation, and the seamless integration of security into development workflows.
Amrit Singh, who played a key role in shaping this architecture, recalls, “We embedded security into the development lifecycle, not around it. That’s what made kynect resilient under pressure.” This model has since become a gold standard in digital public infrastructure, reflecting a growing understanding that cybersecurity isn’t a bottleneck, it’s a foundational enabler of continuity and trust.
Today, Singh continues to influence the field as a judge for the Globee Cybersecurity Awards, where he evaluates next-generation innovations. His expertise now helps secure a broader range of systems, from AI-driven platforms to national infrastructure, ensuring that lessons from kynect shape how public technologies evolve under modern threat landscapes.
Cybersecurity is Healthcare, and Trust is Infrastructure
The kynect rollout wasn’t just about technology, it was about creating a resilient bridge between people and essential services. With leaders like Amrit Singh helping embed security as a core architectural element, it showed that building digital trust at scale requires more than a functioning system; it demands a secure one. In a world of rising digital demand and systemic risk, kynect stands as a reminder that well-architected cybersecurity is foundational, not optional, for mission-critical platforms. Its lessons continue to resonate across sectors, offering a blueprint for secure, scalable, and ethical digital service delivery. Because when millions depend on a system, trust isn’t a feature, it’s the foundation.
