IBM Researchers Develop Shield To Mask Sensitive On-Screen Info

IBM Research-Haifa has developed software that effectively hides sensitive or personal information that might otherwise appear on the computer screens of unauthorised personnel. It could prove particularly useful for security-conscious fields such as healthcare, insurance, government or financial services.

When refined and fully developed, this technology – dubbed MAGEN (Masking Gateway for Enterprises), the Hebrew word for ‘shield’ – might help organisations better comply with privacy laws, and lessen the vulnerability of information to theft.

This is the latest in a string of proofs-of-concept developed by IBM Researchers designed to preserve privacy. For instance, IBM Research-India last year created voice recognition technology that automatically detects and muffles the most sensitive portions of recorded conversations, such as those between customer service representatives and clients. And several weeks ago, an IBM Researcher solved a longstanding cryptography challenge, demonstrating that encrypted information could be thoroughly analysed, yet protected at the same time.

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MAGEN treats information on the screen as a picture, and relies on optical character-recognition technology to determine which onscreen fields need to be blanked out or replaced with random values. MAGEN does not change the software program or the data itself – it filters the information before it reaches the PC screen – and does not force companies to create modified copies of electronic records where information is masked, scrambled, or eliminated.

This results in a flexible system. If companies had to create and store modified copies, the process would be relatively expensive and slow, as well as take up valuable electronic storage space. MAGEN’s rules can also be easily modified as confidentiality regulations change, or for different types of users. The solution can be deployed in any environment where screen images are delivered – no matter which operating system, application, or protocols are used.

When fully fleshed out, MAGEN will have very practical applications. For example, it might be used by a health insurance company that outsources customer service and claims processing functions to a third-party. Although private medical information in the patient records can’t be shared with the contractors, customer service representatives need access to patient records. In these kinds of cases, MAGEN can hide private information so that it never appears on the agents’ screens. Or, it can partially hide data, such as for the screens of call centre customer service representatives, who only need enough identifying data to access, confirm or update an account.