Looking for new managed services to offer your customers? With data masking, managed service providers (MSPs) could reap the rewards of a rapidly expanding market segment, boost their revenues and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, according to Camouflage Software CEO Kevin Duggan. Here are the details.

Dan Kobialka, Contributing writer

February 18, 2015

3 Min Read
Camouflage CEO: Data Masking Offers 'Wide-Open Playing Field' for MSPs

Managed service providers that are looking to fortify their security and data protection offerings and set them apart from the competition may consider adding a technology called data masking. The technology has hit prime time. Gartner even has a Magic Quadrant report.

So we thought we’d take a closer look at one of the providers listed in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, Camouflage Software.

Camouflage started as a professional services company under the Plato Group Inc. banner in 1997 but quickly discovered a need for data masking with one of its high-profile customers – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Camouflage Software CEO Kevin Duggan said his company could access the RCMP’s data, but there was no way to evaluate how this information would respond against various cyber threats.

“We never had a good test for the data,” he told MSPmentor. “Even though we had top-secret clearance, we needed some way to test it against all conditions.”

Enter data masking, which enables users to create “dummy data” that ensures an organization won’t have to worry about putting its customers’ or employees’ personally identifiable information (PII) at risk.

Data masking is not data encryption. Instead, data masking camouflages the real data that you want to protect by interspersing other characters and/or data with it; therefore, the data hides in plain site, but it cannot be seen or discovered.

What does data masking mean for MSPs?

Less than two full months into the new year, health insurance giant Anthem, European online shoe retailer Office and other globally recognized organizations have already been breached.

By offering data masking services, MSPs could help organizations like Anthem and Office protect their sensitive information against cyber attacks.

Duggan said he believes that most organizations need data masking, yet few understand its benefits. However, he also noted that MSPs can incorporate data masking into their offerings, and ultimately become more valuable to prospects and customers.

“MSPs can provide cost-effective, valuable data masking support by offering this skill to a whole bunch of clients,” Duggan said. “For MSPs that are early adopters of data masking, there’s a wide-open playing field.”

Joseph Feiman, Gartner‘s lead analyst in data application and security, recently told TheStreet that there is rising demand for data masking technologies among organizations in the United States, Canada and Europe. Additionally, he pointed out that financial services companies, government agencies and healthcare providers are among the organizations that are driving the demand for data masking technologies.

Camouflage, meanwhile, is making it easier for MSPs to add data masking services to their portfolios.

The Canadian data masking solutions provider offers the first pure-play data masking solution for MSPs, and the company’s channel partner program provides resources, tools and training to help service providers sell, service and support Camouflage’s offerings.

With data masking, managed service providers (MSPs) could reap the rewards of a rapidly expanding market segment, boost their revenues and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, according to Duggan.

Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Dan Kobialka

Contributing writer, Penton Technology

Dan Kobialka is a contributing writer for MSPmentor and Talkin' Cloud. In the past, he has produced content for numerous print and online publications, including the Boston Business Journal, Boston Herald and Patch.com. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State College (now Bridgewater State University). In his free time, Kobialka enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football (Go Patriots!).  

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