IBM launches information masking software

IBM researchers have unveiled new privacy enhancing technology

IBM researchers in Israel have unveiled new screen-masking software that could help firms better comply with privacy laws and reduce the risk of information theft.

Magen (Masking Gateway for Enterprises) is able to recognise and hide sensitive information that might otherwise appear on the screens of non-authorised staff, said the firm.

It relies on optical character recognition technology to determine which on-screen fields need to be blanked out or replaced with random values, filtering the information before it reaches the PC screen.

Magen therefore removes the need for companies to create and store copies of documents that have been modified to remove certain classified information, according to IBM.

"Magen's screen masking approach eliminates the need to painstakingly tailor 'data masking' solutions to specific environments," said Haim Nelken, manager of integration technologies at IBM's Haifa research lab.

"The bottom line is faster performance, simpler database security and reduced costs for protecting sensitive data."

When it becomes available, the software could be particularly useful in industries such as healthcare, government or insurance, said IBM.