Fabric Data Masking

Data Privacy laws require the ability to mask data by hiding the original values with modified content. Fabric provides a field-level API to protect data classified as Personal Identifiable Information, sensitive personal data, or commercially sensitive data.

To ensure that the data are still valid for your data lifecycle management, the masked data will look real and appear consistent.

This capability can be used to conduct tests, implement data transformations, or serve anonymized data to external 3rd parties via web services or queue messages.

Masking Flow

The masking of sensitive data can be done either by the LUI sync using the LU Table Population Broadway Flow (which masks the data before they are saved into Fabric), or by using a Broadway flow to mask the LUI data before they are loaded to the target.

The following diagram describes the masking process of sensitive data using an LUI sync:

The following diagram describes the masking process of sensitive data before loading the data to the target:

Broadway Masking Actors

The masking process is executed by Broadway Actors that enable masking sensitive data before they are loaded into a target database or even into Fabric. The masking process contains the generation (manufacturing) of a random synthetic value that replaces the real value, and the caching of the hashed original value and the masked value in order to keep the referential integrity of the data. Starting from V7.1, Fabric separates data generation (manufacturing) from the hashing and caching capabilities. Broadway provides the following Actors:

1. Various data generation Actors under the generators category to generate a random synthetic value. For example: RandomString, RandomNumber, Sequence…
2. Masking Actor - this Actor can wrap any data generation Actor and add the hashing and caching capabilities on top of the data generation Actor.
3. Broadway still keeps the existing masking Actors for backward compatibility reasons.

The masking Actors use the Fabric hashing utility to hash the original value and save the mapping of the hashed value and the masked value to the cache table.

Click here to read how to use Fabric's masking Broadway Actors.

Click here to read more about Fabric hashing mechanism.

Customized Masking Logic

K2view enables users to create their own masking functions:

• The MaskingLuFunction Broadway Actor can be used to call a customized function (a shared function or an LU's function) to mask the required field.
• The MaskingInnerFlow Broadway Actor can be used to call a customized Broadway flow or an Actor to mask the required field.
• Fabric 7.1 provides the general Masking Actor that enables running either a customized inner flow or an Actor to mask a required field.

The use of MaskingLuFunction, MaskingInnerFlow or Masking Actors guarantees the usage of the K2view masking mechanism including SHA-512/256 hashing and caching. The user does not need to handle them by their customized function.

Masking Actors Properties

Target Value Uniqueness

• The user can decide whether the masked value is unique per original value (hashed value) or if it can be used for more than one original value. For example, a masked SSN must be unique, but a masked Family Name can be the masked value of different original values.

Cache with Expiration Date

• Each cached link of a hashed value to a masked value can have a TTL (Time To Live). This link will expire once the TTL has been reached, and the original value will be masked again. Note that the TTL is supported only when creating the k2masking keyspace in Cassandra or populating the interface parameter in the masking Actors with IN-MEMORY value.

Caching Level Parameters

• The caching of the masked values can be saved on different levels, based on the user’s input. Each one of the following parameters can be enabled or disabled from being a part of the Caching key:
  • Instance ID
  • Environment
  • Execution ID

Format Preserving Masking

Format-preserving masking, introduced in Fabric 8.0, provides a solution for maintaining consistent data masking across multiple fields while preserving their original formatting patterns. It addresses scenarios where the same underlying value appears in multiple fields with different formatting patterns.

An optional parameter has been added to the Masking Actor: formatter to enable format-preserving masking. This parameter can be set with either a formatter flow or an Actor in order to preserve the original format in the masked value and to set the same masked values to all fields that have the same normalized (’naked‘) value, although they have a different format.

Example:

• The phone number exists in multiple fields in the data source with different formats: +1 (254) 455 5666, +1(254)4555666, +1 (254)-455-5666.
• All these fields must get the same masked value (since they correspond to a single phone number), but the format needs to be different for each field in order to match its original format.

The following diagram describes how the Masking Actor uses the formatter for preserving the original format in the masked value:

Click here for more information about the formatter flows and Actors.

K2view Masking Advantages

• Supports cross instances consistency based on the hashed values.
• The original value is not used as an input for creating the random masked value, other than for formatting purposes.
• IN-MEMORY processing. The MicroDB is created with the masked values.
• Uses the Fabric Masking mechanism (using SHA-512/256 algorithm).
• Multiple masking options enable maximal flexibility when masking the data.

De-Anonymization (Pseudonymization)

In some cases there is a business need to retrieve the original value of the masked LUI. For example, retrieve a mailing address in order to contact the customer.

There are 2 recommended approaches to support de-anonymization and retrieve the original value of the masked field:

• Keep the source Instance ID in Fabric and use it to retrieve the original data from the source system.

• Keep the encrypted version (each Instance is encrypted separately) of the original values in Fabric only, in addition to the anonymized values. Limit the access to the anonymized data. Only permitted users can access the original values.

Click here for more information about the LUI encryption.