Data Masking with Informatica

Data masking / obfuscation is the process of hiding original data with random characters or data. Data Masking is a simple technical solution for a fundamental business problem of data leaks. Data leaks are triggered not always by the security holes in systems, but by the business processes as well. It is important for organizations to restrict access to sensitive data to ensure confidentiality.

There are primarily 2 types of data masking solutions:

1. Static Data Masking
2. Dynamic Data Masking

Static Data Masking takes production data as input, and then applies transformations to obfuscate records and removes sensitive information. Masked records are written into a new instance of a database, a clone. Data in clone can be used for testing different scenarios because the structure and the format of data is preserved with referential integrity. Static data masking provides high‐quality, near realistic test data for use in non‐production environments.

Dynamic Data Masking is a technology that puts data masking as a mediator between applications and underlying databases. An additional layer is created between databases and applications which selectively masks sensitive information. Obfuscation is done in real time; the underlying database and the application source are not changed.

Dynamic data masking is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of data exposure to insiders and outsiders in organizations which need to have access to production data and is the best practice for securing production databases. It limits all sensitive data exposures because of application security design flaws, inadequate testing, ever changing regulatory requirements and aggressive production release schedule etc.

So, how to decide between static and dynamic data masking? Static masking should be used to remove risks associated with using production data in non-production environments, and on the other hand, dynamic masking should be used to reduce exposure to personnel that has access to production data; it introduces an additional layer of role-based security offering delicate access control. There is no simple answer; in most cases the perfect solution would be to use both approaches. If you cannot do both, it is more important to introduce static data masking to avoid using sensitive data in non-production environments.

As a result of these challenges, organizations are in greater need of robust data masking software to prevent breaches and enforce data security. Such a solution should empower IT organizations to:

• Mask the sensitive data exposed in production environments
• Shield production applications and databases without changes to source code
• Respond quickly to reduce the risks of data breaches and the resulting costs
• Customize database security for different regulatory or business requirements

Informatica Dynamic Data Masking solution

Informatica Dynamic Data Masking helps organizations to accomplish these daunting tasks, proactively addressing data privacy challenges in real time. Informatica Dynamic Data Masking de-identifies data and controls unauthorized access to production environment.

This blog is contributed by one of my colleague.