Data Obfuscation
Data obfuscation is a technique that “hides” or “camouflages” code or other information so that it is harder to read by unauthorized users.
- is the process of replacing data with data that looks like real production information
- original data is unretrievable
- is security by obscurity
- usually deprecated
Methods
Implementations
- Static obfuscation
- a new representational dataset is created as a copy of the original data with obfuscations implemented
- only the obscured copy is used
- Dynamic obfuscation
- data is obfuscated from the original dataset as it is accessed
Use Cases
- Test Environments
- new software should be tested in sandboxed environments before being deployed to production environment
- actual production data should never be used within the sandbox
- but need to use data that closely approximates the traits and characteristics of the production data
- Enforcing least privilege
- this may mean allowing users access to elements of a dataset without revealing its entirety
- e.g., Customer service rep gets access to a portion of a customers data that’s needed to perform job
- Secure remote access
- when a customer logs on to their web service, account information may be only partially revealed
- adds protection against hijacked sessions, stolen credentials, shoulder surfing