Global 500 Financial Services Co.

A Global 500 financial services company needed masking that behaved the same way everywhere. The quotation in this study makes the point precisely: consistency was the feature that mattered, because it keeps users working from data that still lines up across systems. The company reports its data security increased by more than 90 percent after implementing PKWARE technology.

Background

This case study of a Global 500 financial services company is based on a December 2020 survey of PKWARE customers by TechValidate, a third-party research service. The profiled company asked to have their name blinded to protect their confidentiality.

These figures come from a December 2020 TechValidate survey rather than from PKWARE, and the company chose not to be named. What the format provides is the customer’s own assessment in its own terms, which is a different kind of evidence from a vendor benchmark and should be read as such.

Challenges

The cybersecurity needs that most influenced their decision to use PKWARE solutions:

• Custom data masking

The compliance measures that most influenced their decision to use PKWARE solutions:

• GDPR
• PCI / DSS
• CCPA / CPRA

PKWARE provided a masking tool which was needed from security and compliance perspective. Consistent masking was one of the great feature which PKWARE has provided to us. It not only eases the process but keep our users consistent from data point of view.

Consistent masking is a stricter requirement than it first appears. If the same account number is masked one way in a test database and another way in a reporting extract, the two can no longer be joined, and analysis that depends on matching records quietly stops working. Deterministic masking keeps those relationships intact while removing the ability to identify anyone, which is what allows masked data to remain useful.

Our Approach

This company increased data security by >90% since implementing PKWARE technology.

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Use Cases

The following data types are protected with PKWARE:

• Credit card and financial information
• Personal data (SSNs, race, religion, minors, etc.)

Data uncovered by PKWARE’s data discovery is protected with:

• Masking (redaction, de-identification, etc.)

PKWARE functionality for data security is used with these additional use cases:

• Data protection (masking or encryption)

Card data and personal data sit under different regimes, which is why three compliance drivers appear together here. PCI DSS governs cardholder data specifically and is audited against a defined scope. GDPR and CCPA govern personal data broadly, with obligations that follow the individual rather than the system. One masking capability applied consistently is what lets a single control answer all three.

Results

The company experienced these immediate benefits following the deployment of PKWARE:

• Located and classified sensitive data
• Met audit and compliance requirements
• Eliminated fines and fees associated with breaches
• Improved the efficiency of a business process
• Improved protection of PI/PII
• Increased data security by >90% since implementing PKWARE technology
• Saved up to >90% of time by moving from manually applied protection to PKWARE’s automated discovery and protection solution

More than 90 percent in both figures repays a closer reading. The security figure describes how much more of the sensitive estate is now protected. The time figure describes work that no longer has to be done by hand. They move together because manual protection is both slow and incomplete, since the available effort is what limits the coverage.