Masking data in the results of a database query

摘要

A database query is intercepted and masked data in the query is identified; the masked data in the query is unmasked 332 by substituting the masked data with equivalent real values; the unmasked query is sent to the database engine; a result 330 provided by the database in response to the unmasked query is intercepted; values in the result corresponding to sensitive information are identified; the sensitive values are substituted with a masked equivalent; and the masked result set is returned to the user. Each masked equivalent preferably uses a unique mask chosen from a non-repeating sequence.