What is Data Masking? Understanding with Examples

Learn data masking techniques, including how it protects sensitive information with examples.

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Masking is a technique used to hide or obscure part of a data set to protect sensitive information. For example, in a credit card number like 1234-5678-9012-3456, masking can make it appear as 1234---3456. This ensures the card is identifiable but hides sensitive information from unauthorized users.

FAQs & Answers

  1. What is the purpose of data masking? Data masking protects sensitive information by obscuring specific data within a database without altering its format.
  2. How does data masking work? Data masking works by replacing sensitive data with fictional, but realistic data that maintains the format of the original data.
  3. What are examples of data that can be masked? Examples of data that can be masked include credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and names in databases.
  4. Is data masking the same as encryption? No, data masking changes the data to protect it while allowing its format to remain useful, whereas encryption transforms data into a code that requires a key to decode.

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