Format Libraries and Masking Definitions

To mask data, the Data Masking Pack provides two main features:

  • Masking format library

    The format library contains a collection of ready-to-use masking formats. The library consists of format routines that you can use for masking. A masking format can either be one that you create, or one from the list of Oracle-supplied default masking formats.

    As a matter of best practice, organizations should create masking formats for all commonly regulated information so that the formats can be applied to the sensitive data regardless of which database the sensitive data resides in. This ensures that all sensitive data is consistently masked across the entire organization.

  • Masking definitions

    A masking definition defines a data masking operation to be implemented on one or more tables in a database. Masking definitions associate table columns with formats to use for masking the data. They also maintain the relationship between columns that are not formally declared in the database using related columns.

    You can create a new masking definition or use an existing definition for a masking operation. To create a masking definition, you specify the column of the table for which the data should be masked and the format of masked data. If the columns being masked are involved in unique, primary key, or foreign key constraints, data masking generates the values so that the constraints are not violated. Masking ensures uniqueness per character using decimal arithmetic. For example, a 5-character string generates a maximum of only 99999 unique values. Similarly, a 1-character string generates a maximum of only 9 unique values.

    You would typically export masking definitions to files and import them on other systems. This is important when the test and production sites reside on different Oracle Management Systems or on entirely different sites.

See Also:

The online help topic "Creating a Data Masking Definition" as well as the help for each Data Masking page