Use sophisticated data masking and data obfuscation methods to de-identify sensitive records

"If your organization has sensitive data and you require data for test and development based on this, Grid-Tools have a powerful test data management solution."

Edwin van Vliet, Test Data Manager for large Dutch Bank, Yacht Consultancy

How can Datamaker™ protect your sensitive data records?

Interestingly, many organizations spend a lot of time and money securing their systems from external attacks, but approximately 70% of data breaches occur from within your organization. Many times these data breaches are a direct result of using copies of production databases for testing and development. The majority of these data breaches occur from accidental loss of data or employee error.

Data masking is generally the first thought that comes to mind when thinking of sensitive data protection for use of data outside of your production environment. If the process of data masking is done properly, data will be completely secure and unidentifiable once it has left the production database. This can be achieved through Grid-Tools data masking and obfuscation module of GT Datamaker™. Grid-Tools also offer the ability to create synthetic data from scratch, with all of the business and referential integrity of production data. The flexibility of using multiple methods, either alone or in parallel, is a unique approach specific to Grid-Tools.

International data privacy law

Many organizations are concerned about de-identifying their data to comply with international laws such as HIPAA, the PCI DSS, the GLBA, the DPA or SOX. These data protection laws are designed to protect the personal information of individuals. This is achieved by placing important restrictions on the ways in which an organization can use personally identifiable information (PII). This can include:

• The racial or ethnic origin of the data subject
• Political opinions
• Religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature
• Trade union affiliations
• Physical, mental health or condition
• Sexual life
• The commission or alleged commission by him/her of any offence
• Social Security numbers
• Financial data or credit card numbers

Grid-Tools has experience in addressing international data regulations (as shown below) in many large and well-known organizations across multiple verticals.

Watch a demonstration on the techniques Grid-Tools uses to protect sensitive data for testing and development (audio demonstration, approx 20 mins)

International data regulations

Organizations are faced with addressing compliance issues internationally, and the trend for more regulations and higher penalties shows no signs of abating. The PCI SSS, SOX, HIPAA, GLBA, European Union Data Protection Directive, Japanese Personal Information Act (JPIPA) and the British Data Protection Act are just some of the regulations putting pressure on organizations.

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