NEW YORK -- MENTISoftware Solutions (MENTX, Inc.), the information security company, today announced the release of iMask, the first enterprise-class, full-functionality masking solution for Oracle databases.

iMask is a simple, effective solution for securing information in Production databases from unauthorized access. An improvement over encryption in this dynamic environment, iMask provides multiple layers of authentication and authorization for access to the production database – without performance penalty or the need to re-engineer or retrofit applications.

“We approached the development of iMask by taking something of a fresh look at the encryption problem,” said MENTIS CEO Rajesh Parthasarathy. “Apart from detective approaches, which involve finding out how bad the breach was after it’s too late, the only real preventive option has been some form of encryption. But encryption is problematic in a dynamic environment where users need access to live, unencrypted data.”

iMask allows a variety of customized levels of access to protected information, and on a case-by-case basis displays real information, displays masked information, or denies access to the database.

According to Parthasarathy, “Encryption in the database environment brings a host of problems, not least the fact that a decryption key must be used to keep the information accessible, which creates a continual opportunity for breach. In addition to these performance and security penalties, encryption also involves high maintenance demands, the need to retrofit existing code, and a re-engineering of processes around development and code migration.”

With iMask, however, MENTIS offers a straightforward, easy-to-use option. The solution does not update any data, tables, or structures; it does not alter any code; nor does it use encryption. Instead, iMask wraps a shield, or scrambled mask, around sensitive data at the layer where security can be tightest: the database table and column level.

“We designed iMask to be applicable for all database types, “ said Parthasarathy. “However, we believe iMask can be of particular value when protecting Production databases, since the data in a live Production database must remain accurate and dynamic.”

MENTISoftware