Obfuscating values (via T-SQL) in several Varchar, Char, and Datetime columns ?

• VoldemarG

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  September 19, 2018 at 1:26 pm

  #415661

  Is there any good T-SQL solution that you can recommend for obfuscating a dozen of  Char and Varchar fields in several tables containing sensitive data?  Preferably without using Rand() functions due to restrictions as to where it can be used (cannot be called from within UDFs, for example..)
  We are also thinking about obfuscating a couple of Datetime columns too so that certain processes get safely tested in a testing environment by third-party consultants. Not looking for any free or paid packaged tool but an elegant T-SQL based solution. Cannot find one so far...
         It would also be awesome to be able to replace sensitive values with some meaningful values.  (Like 'Smith, John' to become 'Oppenheimer, Jeffrey', and an address like '13 Karl Marx avenue' to be replaced with some random '950 Blue Ribbon crossing', etc.)

  Thank you,
  and happy holidays!

  Likes to play Chess

• Joe Torre

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  September 19, 2018 at 6:26 pm

  #2006376

  Maybe column level encryption would work for this.

• VoldemarG

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  September 19, 2018 at 7:38 pm

  #2006379

  Can a Select statement be run against an encrypted column?

  Likes to play Chess

• Phil Parkin

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  September 20, 2018 at 4:03 am

  #2006396

  VoldemarG - Wednesday, September 19, 2018 7:38 PM

  Can a Select statement be run against an encrypted column?

  Yes. But the value returned by a straight select is not useful.

  If you haven't even tried to resolve your issue, please don't expect the hard-working volunteers here to waste their time providing links to answers which you could easily have found yourself.

• Keith Oliver

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  September 20, 2018 at 7:48 am

  #2006421

  Take a look at the article by Phil Factor posted today - 

  Pseudonymizing a Database with Realistic Data for Development Work

• Michael G

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  September 21, 2018 at 5:42 am

  #2006535

  I found this obfuscation code somewhere a while back and kept it.
  CREATE VIEW dbo.NewIDForFunction AS
SELECT checksum(NEWID()) idNew
GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomLetter() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
SELECT @cReturn=CHAR(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%26+65) FROM NewIDForFunction
RETURN @cReturn
END
GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomVowel_NotY() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('AEIOU',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%5+1,1)
FROM NewIDForFunction
RETURN @cReturn
END
GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomConsonate() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZY',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%20+1,1)
FROM NewIDForFunction
RETURN @cReturn
END
GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomDigit() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
SELECT @cReturn=CAST(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%10 AS CHAR(1)) FROM NewIDForFunction
RETURN @cReturn
END
GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomReplace_Constrained(@sIn VARCHAR(255))
RETURNS VARCHAR(255) AS
BEGIN

  DECLARE @cbIn TINYINT
DECLARE @sResult VARCHAR(50)
DECLARE @cbProcessed TINYINT
DECLARE @sNextChar CHAR(1)
DECLARE @nNextChar TINYINT

  SET @cbProcessed = 1
SET @sResult = ''
SELECT @cbIn=LEN(@sIn)

  WHILE @cbProcessed <= @cbIn BEGIN
SET @sNextChar = SUBSTRING(@sIn,@cbProcessed,1)
SET @nNextChar = ASCII(@sNextChar)
SELECT @sResult = @sResult +
CASE
WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 48 AND 57 THEN dbo.RandomDigit()
WHEN @nNextChar IN (65,69,73,79,85) THEN dbo.RandomVowel_NotY()
WHEN @nNextChar IN (89,121) THEN @sNextChar
WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 65 AND 90 THEN dbo.RandomConsonate()
WHEN @nNextChar IN (97,101,105,111,117) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomVowel_NotY())
WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 97 AND 122 THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
WHEN @nNextChar IN (40,41,32,46) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
ELSE @sNextChar
END
SET @cbProcessed = @cbProcessed + 1
END

  RETURN @sResult

  END
GO

  SELECT [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained](100012345) AS ObfuscationInt
    , [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained]('Strange Text Result') AS ObfuscationVarchar
GO

  The results: (will be different for each run):
  ObfuscationInt    ObfuscationVarchar
  571458568    ClhonlerFomzlMafojj
  
  Unfortunately I can't credit anyone with it, but it is handy for inline SELECT obfuscation, just don't expect to be able to unobfuscate the data...

  Michael Gilchrist
  Database Specialist
  There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those that don't. 😀

• sgmunson

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  September 21, 2018 at 6:26 am

  #2006537

  Michael G - Friday, September 21, 2018 5:42 AM

  I found this obfuscation code somewhere a while back and kept it.
  CREATE VIEW dbo.NewIDForFunction AS
  SELECT checksum(NEWID()) idNew
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomLetter() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CHAR(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%26+65) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomVowel_NotY() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('AEIOU',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%5+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomConsonate() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZY',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%20+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomDigit() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CAST(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%10 AS CHAR(1)) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomReplace_Constrained(@sIn VARCHAR(255))
  RETURNS VARCHAR(255) AS
  BEGIN

  DECLARE @cbIn TINYINT
  DECLARE @sResult VARCHAR(50)
  DECLARE @cbProcessed TINYINT
  DECLARE @sNextChar CHAR(1)
  DECLARE @nNextChar TINYINT

  SET @cbProcessed = 1
  SET @sResult = ''
  SELECT @cbIn=LEN(@sIn)

  WHILE @cbProcessed <= @cbIn BEGIN
  SET @sNextChar = SUBSTRING(@sIn,@cbProcessed,1)
  SET @nNextChar = ASCII(@sNextChar)
  SELECT @sResult = @sResult +
  CASE
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 48 AND 57 THEN dbo.RandomDigit()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (65,69,73,79,85) THEN dbo.RandomVowel_NotY()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (89,121) THEN @sNextChar
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 65 AND 90 THEN dbo.RandomConsonate()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (97,101,105,111,117) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomVowel_NotY())
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 97 AND 122 THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (40,41,32,46) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  ELSE @sNextChar
  END
  SET @cbProcessed = @cbProcessed + 1
  END

  RETURN @sResult

  END
  GO

  SELECT [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained](100012345) AS ObfuscationInt
    , [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained]('Strange Text Result') AS ObfuscationVarchar
GO

  The results: (will be different for each run):
  ObfuscationInt    ObfuscationVarchar
  571458568    ClhonlerFomzlMafojj
  
  Unfortunately I can't credit anyone with it, but it is handy for inline SELECT obfuscation, just don't expect to be able to unobfuscate the data...

  Nothing wrong with the code, although I might make some different choices in the final routine..   And I'd also change dbo.Consonate to dbo.Consonant because I can't stand the idea of that kind of thing being spelled incorrectly.

  Steve (aka sgmunson) 🙂 🙂 🙂
  Rent Servers for Income (picks and shovels strategy)

• Michael G

  Ten Centuries

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  September 21, 2018 at 7:06 am

  #2006545

  sgmunson - Friday, September 21, 2018 6:26 AM

  Michael G - Friday, September 21, 2018 5:42 AM

  I found this obfuscation code somewhere a while back and kept it.
  CREATE VIEW dbo.NewIDForFunction AS
  SELECT checksum(NEWID()) idNew
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomLetter() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CHAR(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%26+65) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomVowel_NotY() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('AEIOU',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%5+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomConsonate() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZY',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%20+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomDigit() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CAST(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%10 AS CHAR(1)) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomReplace_Constrained(@sIn VARCHAR(255))
  RETURNS VARCHAR(255) AS
  BEGIN

  DECLARE @cbIn TINYINT
  DECLARE @sResult VARCHAR(50)
  DECLARE @cbProcessed TINYINT
  DECLARE @sNextChar CHAR(1)
  DECLARE @nNextChar TINYINT

  SET @cbProcessed = 1
  SET @sResult = ''
  SELECT @cbIn=LEN(@sIn)

  WHILE @cbProcessed <= @cbIn BEGIN
  SET @sNextChar = SUBSTRING(@sIn,@cbProcessed,1)
  SET @nNextChar = ASCII(@sNextChar)
  SELECT @sResult = @sResult +
  CASE
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 48 AND 57 THEN dbo.RandomDigit()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (65,69,73,79,85) THEN dbo.RandomVowel_NotY()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (89,121) THEN @sNextChar
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 65 AND 90 THEN dbo.RandomConsonate()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (97,101,105,111,117) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomVowel_NotY())
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 97 AND 122 THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (40,41,32,46) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  ELSE @sNextChar
  END
  SET @cbProcessed = @cbProcessed + 1
  END

  RETURN @sResult

  END
  GO

  SELECT [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained](100012345) AS ObfuscationInt
    , [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained]('Strange Text Result') AS ObfuscationVarchar
GO

  The results: (will be different for each run):
  ObfuscationInt    ObfuscationVarchar
  571458568    ClhonlerFomzlMafojj
  
  Unfortunately I can't credit anyone with it, but it is handy for inline SELECT obfuscation, just don't expect to be able to unobfuscate the data...

  Nothing wrong with the code, although I might make some different choices in the final routine..   And I'd also change dbo.Consonate to dbo.Consonant because I can't stand the idea of that kind of thing being spelled incorrectly.

  Nice catch, I didn't even notice the spelling error, which is weird because I tend to notice grammar and spelling issues.

  Michael Gilchrist
  Database Specialist
  There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those that don't. 😀

• Jeff Moden

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  September 21, 2018 at 8:52 am

  #2006585

  VoldemarG - Wednesday, September 19, 2018 1:26 PM

  Is there any good T-SQL solution that you can recommend for obfuscating a dozen of  Char and Varchar fields in several tables containing sensitive data?  Preferably without using Rand() functions due to restrictions as to where it can be used (cannot be called from within UDFs, for example..)
  We are also thinking about obfuscating a couple of Datetime columns too so that certain processes get safely tested in a testing environment by third-party consultants. Not looking for any free or paid packaged tool but an elegant T-SQL based solution. Cannot find one so far...
         It would also be awesome to be able to replace sensitive values with some meaningful values.  (Like 'Smith, John' to become 'Oppenheimer, Jeffrey', and an address like '13 Karl Marx avenue' to be replaced with some random '950 Blue Ribbon crossing', etc.)

  Thank you,
  and happy holidays!

  Not quite right.  RAND can actually be used in a function by creating a view that uses RAND and the function selects from the view instead.  Same with NEWID().

  --Jeff Moden

  ---

  RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
  First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
  ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

  Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
  

  ---

  Helpful Links:
  How to post code problems
  How to Post Performance Problems
  Create a Tally Function (fnTally)
  

• VoldemarG

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  September 23, 2018 at 8:17 pm

  #2006684

  Keith Oliver - Thursday, September 20, 2018 7:48 AM

  Take a look at the article by Phil Factor posted today - 

  Pseudonymizing a Database with Realistic Data for Development Work

  .looks so complex...

  Likes to play Chess

• September 24, 2018 at 1:47 pm

  This was removed by the editor as SPAM

• VoldemarG

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  September 24, 2018 at 2:11 pm

  #2006822

  sgmunson - Friday, September 21, 2018 6:26 AM

  Michael G - Friday, September 21, 2018 5:42 AM

  I found this obfuscation code somewhere a while back and kept it.
  CREATE VIEW dbo.NewIDForFunction AS
  SELECT checksum(NEWID()) idNew
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomLetter() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CHAR(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%26+65) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomVowel_NotY() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('AEIOU',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%5+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomConsonate() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=SUBSTRING('BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZY',ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%20+1,1)
  FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomDigit() RETURNS CHAR(1) BEGIN
  DECLARE @cReturn CHAR
  SELECT @cReturn=CAST(ABS(CHECKSUM(idNew))%10 AS CHAR(1)) FROM NewIDForFunction
  RETURN @cReturn
  END
  GO

  CREATE FUNCTION dbo.RandomReplace_Constrained(@sIn VARCHAR(255))
  RETURNS VARCHAR(255) AS
  BEGIN

  DECLARE @cbIn TINYINT
  DECLARE @sResult VARCHAR(50)
  DECLARE @cbProcessed TINYINT
  DECLARE @sNextChar CHAR(1)
  DECLARE @nNextChar TINYINT

  SET @cbProcessed = 1
  SET @sResult = ''
  SELECT @cbIn=LEN(@sIn)

  WHILE @cbProcessed <= @cbIn BEGIN
  SET @sNextChar = SUBSTRING(@sIn,@cbProcessed,1)
  SET @nNextChar = ASCII(@sNextChar)
  SELECT @sResult = @sResult +
  CASE
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 48 AND 57 THEN dbo.RandomDigit()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (65,69,73,79,85) THEN dbo.RandomVowel_NotY()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (89,121) THEN @sNextChar
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 65 AND 90 THEN dbo.RandomConsonate()
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (97,101,105,111,117) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomVowel_NotY())
  WHEN @nNextChar BETWEEN 97 AND 122 THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  WHEN @nNextChar IN (40,41,32,46) THEN LOWER(dbo.RandomConsonate())
  ELSE @sNextChar
  END
  SET @cbProcessed = @cbProcessed + 1
  END

  RETURN @sResult

  END
  GO

  SELECT [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained](100012345) AS ObfuscationInt
    , [dbo].[RandomReplace_Constrained]('Strange Text Result') AS ObfuscationVarchar
GO

  The results: (will be different for each run):
  ObfuscationInt    ObfuscationVarchar
  571458568    ClhonlerFomzlMafojj
  
  Unfortunately I can't credit anyone with it, but it is handy for inline SELECT obfuscation, just don't expect to be able to unobfuscate the data...

  Nothing wrong with the code, although I might make some different choices in the final routine..   And I'd also change dbo.Consonate to dbo.Consonant because I can't stand the idea of that kind of thing being spelled incorrectly.

  If we do it this way, we need to loop through each character in the field within the Update Statement, right?

  Likes to play Chess

• Michael G

  Ten Centuries

  Points: 1323

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  September 25, 2018 at 1:40 am

  #2006857

  VoldemarG - Wednesday, September 19, 2018 1:26 PM

  Is there any good T-SQL solution that you can recommend for obfuscating a dozen of  Char and Varchar fields in several tables containing sensitive data?  Preferably without using Rand() functions due to restrictions as to where it can be used (cannot be called from within UDFs, for example..)
  We are also thinking about obfuscating a couple of Datetime columns too so that certain processes get safely tested in a testing environment by third-party consultants. Not looking for any free or paid packaged tool but an elegant T-SQL based solution. Cannot find one so far...
         It would also be awesome to be able to replace sensitive values with some meaningful values.  (Like 'Smith, John' to become 'Oppenheimer, Jeffrey', and an address like '13 Karl Marx avenue' to be replaced with some random '950 Blue Ribbon crossing', etc.)

  Thank you,
  and happy holidays!

  You could either:
  SELECT [RandomReplace_Constrained]('13 Karl Marx avenue') as NewColumn
  or
  UPDATE Table
  SET Old_Value = [RandomReplace_Constrained](Old_Value )

  I would rather store the new value in a new table - ideally you should go a step further and retain a lookup between the old value and the new value - then only supply the new value.

  Michael Gilchrist
  Database Specialist
  There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those that don't. 😀

• VoldemarG

  Hall of Fame

  Points: 3883

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  September 25, 2018 at 3:03 pm

  #2007016

  Nice! Thank you. I appreciate everybody's input on this.

  Likes to play Chess