Data masking has become a critical technique for enterprises to protect sensitive customer and business data, while supporting key use cases like software testing and analytics. With stringent regulations like GDPR and CCPA, optimizing data security via masking is no longer optional.
This comprehensive guide will explore the top data masking tools that enable pseudonymization, shuffling and full anonymization of confidential data sets across diverse systems and databases.
Why Data Masking Matters
Here are some compelling reasons why data masking has become integral for security-conscious enterprises:
- Mitigates data breach risks when shifting applications to cloud
- Protects sensitive data like healthcare records, financial information from insider misuse
- Enables sharing of non-sensitive test data with third-party developers
- Essential for meeting compliance with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR etc.
Data Masking Techniques
Here are some popular techniques used by data masking tools:
Pseudonymization – Replace personally identifiable information (PII) like names and contact data with random aliases to prevent identification. But data remains usable.
Shuffling & Substitution – Scramble original data by switching values across rows and columns in a dataset. Useful for masking transaction data.
Null Values – Mask sensitive attributes in a database to render them unreadable. Retains structure.
Mathematical Masking – Alter data via equations while retaining patterns. Very difficult to reverse engineer.
Key Features of Data Masking Solutions
Here are must-have capabilities for robust data masking tools:
- Auto-discovery of sensitive information across diverse systems
- Global masking policies based on regulations like HIPAA, GDPR etc.
- Referential integrity checks to maintain data usability
- Irreversible encryption options for full anonymization
- Dashboard showing real-time masking status
- Flexible implementation models (on-premises, SaaS etc.)
Top 9 Data Masking Solutions Compared
Here is an analysis of leading data masking platforms:
1. Delphix
Delphix offers advanced automatic masking for PII and business data with 50+ built-in profiles. It also enables custom algorithms along with strong role-based access control.
Key Highlights:
- Broad compliance coverage: GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA etc.
- Referential integrity checks
- Cloud-native implementation
Pricing: Free trial. Quote-based pricing
2. K2View
K2View simplifies sensitive data discovery and masking across large, complex IT environments. It delivers robust data security capabilities like shuffling, redaction and tokenization.
Key Highlights:
- Automated sensitive data discovery
- Maintains relational integrity
- High performance at enterprise scale
Pricing: Free trial. Annual subscription pricing
3. Accutive
Accutive provides enterprise-grade data masking to protect confidential and sensitive information across diverse systems like Oracle, MySQL, DB2 etc.
Key Highlights:
- Cross-platform data migration capabilities
- Integrated access management
- Detailed audit reporting
Pricing: Free trial. Annual license pricing
4. Informatica
Informatica offers extensive sensitive data discovery and scalable masking capabilities to drive cloud analytics while ensuring compliance.
Key Highlights:
- Broad connectivity for masking data in multiple systems
- Referential integrity retained
- Optimized for next-gen analytics
Pricing: Free trial. Subscription-based pricing
5. Hush Hush
Hush Hush simplifies data classification workflows to auto-discover and mask PII data using rule-based policies. It also generates detailed compliance reports.
Key Highlights:
- Standards-based data classification
- Direct PII identifiers supported
- Flexible integration options
Pricing: Free trial. Annual subscription pricing
6. dataZense
dataZense provides automated sensitive data discovery, classification and masking capabilities while retaining context for analytics use cases.
Key Highlights:
- Column-level data profiling
- Business validation workflows
- Usage-based pricing model
Pricing: Free trial. Per masked records pricing
7. DataVeil
DataVeil offers robust database, file and application-level masking. It generates fully synthetic masked data that retains patterns without risk of inference attacks.
Key Highlights:
- Format-preserving masking algorithms
- File masking supported
- Tokenization option
Pricing: Free trial. Annual license pricing
8. Immuta
Immuta enables dynamic data masking of sensitive information in real-time based on context. This improves productivity and minimizes breach risks.
Key Highlights:
- 60+ pre-built data security controls
- Dynamic, query-time masking policies
- Broad ecosystem integration
Pricing: Custom quote-based
9. IRI FieldShield
IRI FieldShield provides automated scanning of unstructured data along with advanced masked data generation while meeting rigorous compliance needs.
Key Highlights:
- Broad compliance coverage
- Referential integrity ensured
- Scalable big data security
Pricing: Free trial. Annual license pricing
Best Practices for Implementation
Here are some tips for a successful data masking implementation:
- Define organizational data classification taxonomy upfront
- Start with discovery to map sensitive information flows
- Implement masking in lower environments first
- Validate usability of masked data via sampling
- Plan for role-based access control (RBAC)
- Ensure reversibility controls for masked data
- Continuously monitor for new sensitive data
Conclusion
With data volumes growing exponentially, having robust data masking capabilities is critical for enterprise risk management. Solutions like Delphix, Informatica and K2View provide advanced sensitive data discovery, encryption and synthetic data generation to enable compliance and fuel innovation.
With increasing maturity of data masking technology and more demanding regulations, adopting masking best practices is essential to balance data usability and security.
