Top 11 Data Masking Tools for 2025: Secure, Compliant & Efficient Solutions

Emily Winks profile picture
Data Governance Expert
Published:01/23/2023
|
Updated:12/06/2024
13 min read

Key takeaways

  • Understanding top 11 data masking tools for 2025: secure, compliant & effi is key for modern data teams.
  • A structured approach helps organizations scale their data governance efforts.

Quick Answer: What are data masking tools?

Data masking tools protect sensitive information through anonymization, redaction, and pseudonymization techniques. They help organizations maintain compliance with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA while enabling safe use of production data in non-production environments. Top solutions for include Broadcom, Oracle, IBM, and specialized tools offering dynamic masking, static masking, and tokenization capabilities.

Tool categories:

  • Masking techniques anonymization, redaction, pseudonymization, and tokenization
  • Top tools overview comparing Broadcom, Oracle, IBM, and other leading solutions
  • Use cases compliance, testing, analytics, and third-party data sharing
  • Selection criteria features, performance, and integration considerations

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These tools help businesses comply with privacy regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA by masking data in non-production environments.

They automate the process of obfuscating personal and confidential data, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure without compromising data quality.

Masking techniques such as substitution, shuffling, and encryption safeguard against data breaches, making data masking an essential component of modern data security strategies.


Data masking tools help you use your data for development, testing, analytics, and other such applications while rendering it useless for external threats. As a result, you can minimize the impact of data breaches.

According to Gartner, using data masking tools can “minimize the footprint and propagation of sensitive data (or its viewing) without extensive custom development.”

As per Statista’s 2024 Big Data Report, the adoption of data masking tools has grown by 20% over the past year, highlighting an increasing commitment to high data standards. The global data masking market is projected to reach $1.5 billion by 2025, driven by rising data privacy concerns and regulatory requirements.

This article presents the most widely used data masking tools for small, mid-sized, and large organizations. These tools have been featured on popular review portals such as Gartner and G2.


Permalink to “Here are the eleven most popular data masking tools in 2024:”
  1. Broadcom Data Masking
  2. Delphix Data Platform
  3. IBM® InfoSphere® Optim Data Privacy
  4. iMask™ Dynamic Data Masking
  5. Immuta
  6. Informatica Cloud Data Masking
  7. IRI FieldShield
  8. K2View Data Masking
  9. Microsoft Azure (SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and Synapse Analytics)
  10. Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting
  11. Salesforce Data Mask


Broadcom Data Masking

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Broadcom offers data masking as a feature for organizations using Test Data Manager. Thanks to data masking, developers can use this product to generate realistic test data or use existing data without compromising any sensitive information.

With data masking, developers can obfuscate confidential or classified information during the product or software development, testing, and QA phases. As a result, organizations can ensure that their product development processes are effective and comply with regulatory requirements.

What are the main capabilities of Broadcom’s data masking solution?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of Broadcom’s data masking solution?”
  • Test Data Manager supports static and dynamic (real-time, on the fly) data masking.
  • Masking sensitive data helps ensure better data quality during testing, which reduces time to market and ensures on-time project deliveries.

Broadcom data masking resources:

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Data Masking Guide | Test Data Management | Mainframe InFlight Masking Best Practices Guide


Delphix

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The Delphix data platform offers an automated approach to data masking in non-production environments. It masks sensitive information (social security numbers or credit card information) with realistic data so that it can be used for development, testing, QA, and analytics.

Even though the masking algorithms are pre-configured, you can adapt them to meet the security requirements specific to your organization.

Moreover, the platform comes with an intuitive UI and has a no-code/low-code setup, thereby simplifying the installation process.

What are the main capabilities of Delphix’s data masking solution?

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  • Delphix performs end-to-end data masking by identifying sensitive data and automatically masking it.
  • Delphix is compliant with data privacy standards, such as GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.
  • You can choose to tokenize the sensitive data instead of masking to reverse the obfuscation. The automatic masking is irreversible.
  • The platform supports all types of applications in the data ecosystem and multi-cloud environments.

Delphix data masking resources:

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Delphix Data Masking | Datasheet | Demo Video


IBM® InfoSphere® Optim Data Privacy

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IBM® InfoSphere® Optim Data Privacy helps mask and govern sensitive information (PII and other confidential data) for non-production environments such as development, testing, or QA.

The solution can mask data in real-time to prevent or mitigate the damage of a cyber attack. It can also mask on-screen data to guarantee that only the right people can access sensitive information. You can also use Optim Data Privacy to obfuscate the data used in ETL workflows and other data pipelines.

What are the main capabilities of IBM Infosphere Optim Data Privacy?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of IBM Infosphere Optim Data Privacy?”
  • Optim Data Privacy uses popular pre-programmed data transformation techniques to mask sensitive data without losing its context. It comes with 30 pre-defined data classifications and data privacy rules.
  • It facilitates data masking on-demand and simplifies sensitive data discovery by automatically spotting sensitive fields and supporting OCR reading.
  • Optim comes with predefined compliance reports as per the regulations from HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and more.

IBM Infosphere Optim Data Privacy resources

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IBM Infosphere Optim Data Privacy | Solution brief | Closing the privacy gap (Whitepaper)


iMask™ Dynamic Data Masking

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iMask™ is the dynamic data masking solution from Mentis, a company offering solutions for data privacy, security, and governance. It safeguards sensitive app and database data used in production environments using the NIST-approved fips140 algorithm for encryption and tokenization.

The solution accommodates data from a wide variety of data sources (with structured and unstructured data assets).

What are the main capabilities of iMask™ Dynamic Data Masking?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of iMask™ Dynamic Data Masking?”
  • iMask™ enables granular access control — based on roles, users, programs, and locations — and real-time monitoring.
  • You can choose from over 40 data anonymization methods.
  • The static and dynamic data masking techniques co-exist and can be configured to match your use cases.

iMask™ data masking resources:

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iMask Dynamic Data Masking | Datasheet | User and role-based masking for an airline in Canada (Case Study)


Immuta

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Immuta’s Universal Data Access Control solution offers dynamic data masking and anonymization. The product preserves the confidentiality of sensitive data using advanced privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), as per HIPAA.

What are the main capabilities of Immuta’s Universal Data Access Control solution?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of Immuta’s Universal Data Access Control solution?”

Immuta’s solution enables dynamic data masking and uses several masking techniques. The two prominent techniques also referred to as dynamic PETs include:

  • K-anonymization: Also referred to as ‘hiding in the crowd’, this technique hides an individual’s data within a larger group. So, the sensitive information could belong to any of the individuals in the group. Immuta automates the entire process to avoid a manual or code-based approach to anonymization.
  • Differential privacy: This technique adds noise every time a query is run. The noise gets added depending on the sensitivity of the query. So, data teams can share data without worrying about the confidentiality of sensitive data.

Immuta data masking resources:

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K-anonymity: Everything you need to know (2022 Guide) | What is differential data privacy?


Informatica

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Informatica offers the Persistent Data Masking software that copies sensitive data and uses the techniques of anonymization and encryption to safeguard its privacy. These copies help you carry out testing, development, analytics, and other similar functions using realistic data.

The software applies several masking algorithms (substitution, randomization, or nullification) and techniques specific to PII data (credit cards or financial information). It uses a NIST-standard FPE transformation to enable reversible masking.

What are the main capabilities of Informatica’s data masking tool?

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  • A single audit trail with comprehensive logs and reports helps you track whether data privacy regulations are being followed.
  • You can simulate masking rules before deploying them.
  • You can apply masking techniques to data regardless of its source or format.
  • The software is compliant with privacy regulations from GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GLBA.

Informatica data masking resources:

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Cloud Data Masking | Datasheet | Informatica Advanced Data Masking Solution


IRI Fieldshield

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IRI Fieldshield is part of the IRI Data Protector Suite. This product handles static and dynamic data masking for structured data. They also offer IRI Darkshield to deal with data masking and security for unstructured data.

IRI Fieldshield uses several NSA Suite B and FIPS-compliant encryption methods for data masking.

What are the main capabilities of IRI Fieldshield data masking solution?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of IRI Fieldshield data masking solution?”
  • Fieldshield enables structured data discovery and definition (for context).
  • The product supports hashing, randomization, scrambling, encryption, pseudonymization, tokenization, and redaction to protect sensitive data in production and test environments.
  • Fieldshield complies with data privacy standards such as GDPR, CIPSEA, DPA, FERPA, GLBA, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.

IRI data masking resources:

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Fieldshield | Data Protector Suite 2022 | Product Overview (Fieldshield)


K2View

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K2View Data Masking enables static and dynamic data masking for structured and unstructured data in production and testing environments.

What are the main capabilities of K2View’s data masking tool?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of K2View’s data masking tool?”
  • K2View automates static and dynamic data masking as well as discovering sensitive (PHI and PII) information across various data sources and formats.
  • The tool uses SHA-266 and SHA-512 encryption algorithms to protect sensitive data.
  • The tool comes with a user-friendly dashboard and supports on-premise and multi-cloud deployments.

K2View data masking resources:

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K2View Unified Data Masking | Data masking tools for data-centric enterprises (Whitepaper)


Microsoft Azure (SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and Synapse Analytics)

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Microsoft Azure offers static and dynamic data masking across all of its servers, databases, and environments for analytics and testing. It supports all kinds of cloud deployments and comes with various customizable functions to account for diverse use cases.

To set up a dynamic data masking policy, you can use the Azure Portal.

What are the main capabilities of Microsoft Azure’s data masking solution?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of Microsoft Azure’s data masking solution?”
  • Microsoft offers role-based access control (RBAC) and masking functions that can be customized as per your requirements.
  • The solution comes with a DDM recommendations engine that flags the potentially sensitive fields in your databases.
  • Several integrations with third-party databases ensure seamless data masking across various data sources and formats.

Microsoft Azure data masking resources:

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Dynamic data masking documentation | Dynamic data masking for SQL Server | Configure dynamic data masking in the Azure portal


Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting

Permalink to “Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting”

Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting remove sensitive information from non-production environments (test, development, and analytics). The solution discovers and masks sensitive data automatically, sharing only what’s relevant. It also comes with predefined masking formats for each category of data (i.e., credit card numbers, social security information, or phone numbers).

While optimized for Oracle databases, the solution also supports non-Oracle databases.

What are the main capabilities of Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting?”
  • Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting enables sensitive data discovery.
  • It supports deployments across various environments.
  • You can choose from various masking (conditional masking, randomization, or key-based reversible masking) and subsetting techniques (goal-based or condition-based) and customize them to match your requirements.
  • It complies with data privacy standards such as GDPR and PCI DSS.

Oracle data masking resources:

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Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting | Introduction to Oracle Data Masking and Subsetting | Data Masking | Data Subsetting


Salesforce Data Mask

Permalink to “Salesforce Data Mask”

Salesforce Data Mask lets you build and test applications without compromising sensitive information (PI and PII) by replacing it with dummy data. It ensures that all data stays inside Salesforce.

The solution complies with data privacy standards such as GDPR and CCPA.

What are the main capabilities of Salesforce Data Mask?

Permalink to “What are the main capabilities of Salesforce Data Mask?”
  • Salesforce Data Mask lets you choose from data masking techniques such as anonymization, pseudonymization, and deletion.
  • The product lets you select the fields and data types to be obfuscated.

Salesforce resources:

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Salesforce Data Mask | Install and configure Salesforce Data Mask | Secure your sandbox data

Things to consider before choosing a data masking tool

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Here are some things to consider before choosing a data masking tool. Understand and map:

  • The quantity of the data you have (also, where and how it’s stored)
  • Your compliance requirements (across geographies)
  • Your private data discovery process (across the organization)
  • The data masking technique that is ideal for your scenario
  • The data masking capabilities that you need (such as techniques used or environments and formats supported)
  • Your budget
  • Reviews and testimonials of the vendors that you shortlist

Also, read → Businesses will boost big data compliance with data masking | Increased focus on GDPR compliance through masking


How organizations making the most out of their data using Atlan

Permalink to “How organizations making the most out of their data using Atlan”

The recently published Forrester Wave report compared all the major enterprise data catalogs and positioned Atlan as the market leader ahead of all others. The comparison was based on 24 different aspects of cataloging, broadly across the following three criteria:

  1. Automatic cataloging of the entire technology, data, and AI ecosystem
  2. Enabling the data ecosystem AI and automation first
  3. Prioritizing data democratization and self-service

These criteria made Atlan the ideal choice for a major audio content platform, where the data ecosystem was centered around Snowflake. The platform sought a “one-stop shop for governance and discovery,” and Atlan played a crucial role in ensuring their data was “understandable, reliable, high-quality, and discoverable.”

For another organization, Aliaxis, which also uses Snowflake as their core data platform, Atlan served as “a bridge” between various tools and technologies across the data ecosystem. With its organization-wide business glossary, Atlan became the go-to platform for finding, accessing, and using data. It also significantly reduced the time spent by data engineers and analysts on pipeline debugging and troubleshooting.

A key goal of Atlan is to help organizations maximize the use of their data for AI use cases. As generative AI capabilities have advanced in recent years, organizations can now do more with both structured and unstructured data—provided it is discoverable and trustworthy, or in other words, AI-ready.

Tide’s Story of GDPR Compliance: Embedding Privacy into Automated Processes

Permalink to “Tide’s Story of GDPR Compliance: Embedding Privacy into Automated Processes”
  • Tide, a UK-based digital bank with nearly 500,000 small business customers, sought to improve their compliance with GDPR’s Right to Erasure, commonly known as the “Right to be forgotten”.
  • After adopting Atlan as their metadata platform, Tide’s data and legal teams collaborated to define personally identifiable information in order to propagate those definitions and tags across their data estate.
  • Tide used Atlan Playbooks (rule-based bulk automations) to automatically identify, tag, and secure personal data, turning a 50-day manual process into mere hours of work.

Book your personalized demo today to find out how Atlan can help your organization in establishing and scaling data governance programs.


FAQs about data masking tools

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1. What are data masking tools?

Permalink to “1. What are data masking tools?”

Data masking tools are software solutions designed to obfuscate sensitive data by replacing it with fictitious yet realistic values. This ensures data privacy and security while allowing the data to be used for non-production purposes such as testing or analytics.

2. How do data masking tools work?

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Data masking tools apply techniques like encryption, shuffling, and substitution to transform sensitive data into anonymized formats. This protects sensitive information from unauthorized access while retaining its usability for analysis and testing.

3. Why is data masking important?

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Data masking is crucial for protecting sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information (PII), during non-production activities. It helps prevent data breaches and ensures compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

4. What are the top features to look for in data masking software?

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Key features include dynamic and static masking, data discovery, support for multiple data formats, integration capabilities, and compliance tracking. These features help organizations effectively secure data while maintaining operational efficiency.

5. How do data masking tools ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR or HIPAA?

Permalink to “5. How do data masking tools ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR or HIPAA?”

Data masking tools enforce data privacy by anonymizing sensitive information, ensuring that even if data is accessed without authorization, it remains unintelligible. This practice supports compliance with regulations requiring data protection and privacy.

6. Can data masking tools be integrated into existing systems?

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Yes, most modern data masking tools offer integration capabilities with databases, applications, and cloud environments. This enables seamless implementation without disrupting existing workflows.

Also read: Data Masking 101: Types, Techniques, Getting Started


Permalink to “Related deep dives on popular data tools”

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