Challenges in PII data protection
Yigal Rozenberg · Computer Fraud & Security · 2012
Personal data has become the prime target of hackers and cyber-criminals. Dubbed ‘PII’ (most commonly taken to mean Personally Identifiable Information, although definitions vary, as we'll see) it can be exploited in many ways, from identity theft, spamming and phishing right through to cyber-espionage. Yet something as simple as a customer database has proven surprisingly difficult to protect. Why is this? And what can be done about it? Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data has become the prime target of hackers and cyber-criminals. It can be exploited in many ways, from identity theft, spamming and phishing right through to cyber-espionage. Yet something as simple as a customer database has proven surprisingly difficult to protect. Why is this? And what can be done about it? Yigal Rozenberg of Protegrity looks at the roles that technologies such as hashing, masking, encryption and tokenisation can play – and their weaknesses.