What is Data Masking? 
The growing number of high-profile incidents in which sensitive and confidential data has been lost, stolen or leaked has created a panic in the industry. As strict laws and governing bodies like the PCI DSS, HIPAA, the GLBA, the DPA and SOX continue to put pressure on organizations, the stakes become higher when managing patient health information, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other types of personal and sensitive data. Data breaches can no longer be swept under the rug and organizations need data masking solutions to help protect their sensitive customer data records.
So, what is data masking? Data masking strategies will obscure or de-identify specific data within a database table or cell to ensure that data security is maintained and sensitive customer information is not leaked outside of the authorized environment. This type of process is generally used for non-production environments; testing and development. Masking algorithms are used on non-master tables so referential integrity is maintained.
Other references for "data masking" may include data obfuscation, data scrambling, data anonymization and data cleansing.
Grid-Tools help to protect your sensitive records with data masking solutions
Grid-Tools have fast and easy data masking solutions for most database types and sophisticated IT infrastructures. We also have simple and out-of-the box data masking solutions like Fast Data Masking™ and Data Mask™ for vendors who want a data masking tool for a quick and simple fix, without the fuss.
Grid-Tools solutions differ from most vendors because we don't use a separate staging environment to apply masking algorithms to production data. Most organizations need to take a copy of your production database in order to create the masking environment. Grid-Tools create masked data through a sophisticated database subsetting process, so we never have to take a copy or see your sensitive data. We can also create data where no data exists through data creation processes, which is an even more secure alternative.
Read more about our data masking strategies here.
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