Tokenization is a data security technique that replaces sensitive data (such as payment card numbers) with a unique and randomly generated identifier (a token). Tokens retain the format and structure of the original data, but have no exploitable value without access to the secure token vault, which makes it possible to map the tokens back to their original values. Tokenization is widely used in industries that involve sensitive data, including payment processing and healthcare.
Use case/ examples for tokenization
Payment security: Protecting payment card data during network transactions (online and point-of-sale) by replacing actual card numbers with tokens that are useless if intercepted by attackers.
Data breach mitigation: Reducing the impact of potential data breaches by storing tokens rather than sensitive customer account data, so compromised records have no exploitable value.
Compliance support: Meeting PCI-DSS and other data protection and compliance requirements by implementing tokenization in order to minimize the scope of sensitive data storage and reduce compliance complexity.
