1. Using B2C Service
  2. Configure Incident Thread Masking

Configure Incident Thread Masking

By default, B2C Service contains three predefined system masks for credit card, social security, and telephone numbers. In addition, if our predefined patterns do not satisfy your organization’s needs, you can define up to five custom masks to hide other personally identifiable information when new thread entries are created.

  1. Click Configuration on the navigation pane.
  2. Double-click Incident Thread Masking in the configuration list.
  3. Enter field information.

    Incident Thread Masking Editor

    Field/Button Description
    System Masks This section contains a list of three predefined system masks, which are enabled by default. In addition, the last four digits of each system mask also display by default. You can edit each system mask to hide the last four digits or disable any system mask you do not need.

    When incident thread masking is enabled, masking is automatically performed on credit card, social security, and telephone numbers entered in new incident threads with no action required on your part. You can enable or disable these options to suit your business needs.
    Credit Card Clear the Enabled check box to disable the credit card mask, or clear the Show Last 4 Digits check box to hide the last four digits of credit card numbers.

    This mask matches major credit card numbers including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and Diners Club. Hyphens, periods, and spaces are accepted as dividers between number groups, as in the following examples. The dividers can be at fixed/random intervals.

    Note: Credit cards with 12–19 digits are supported by Incident Thread Masking to include additional credit card types, not just those in the following list.
    • Visa:

      4215101992633023

      4215 1019 9263 3023

      453 939339 6455

      453-939339 6455

    • MasterCard:

      5406209167573761

      5406-2091-6757-3761

      5406.2091.6757.3761

      540.620916.757.3761

    • American Express:

      373518140296377

      3735 181402 96377

    • Discover:

      6011891400863425

      6011.8914.0086.3425

      601.189.140.086.3425

    • Diners Club:

      30139201272845
    SSN Clear the Enabled check box to disable the Social Security numbers mask, or clear the Show Last 4 Digits check box to hide the last four digits of social security numbers. This mask matches the following patterns: AAA-GG-SSSS, AAA GG SSSS, AAA-GG SSSS, AAA GG-SSSS, AAAGGSSSS, AAA-GGSSSS, AAAGG-SSSS, AAAGG SSSS or AAA GGSSSS. Hyphens, periods, and spaces are valid dividers between number groups, as in the following examples:

    534-14-3154

    534-14-3154

    534.14.3154

    534 14 3154
    Phone number Clear the Enabled check box to disable the phone number mask, or clear the Show Last 4 Digits check box to hide the last four digits of telephone numbers. This mask matches the common U.S. phone number format, with the optional country code 1 in the beginning. Hyphens, periods, and spaces are accepted as dividers between number groups, as in the following examples:

    1(111)222-3333

    1(111)2223333

    1(111) 222-3333

    1.111-222-3333

    1.111.222.3333

    1 111 222 3333

    +1.111.222.3333

    +1.111.2223333

    +1.1112223333
    Custom Masks Double-click in the Value field next to the first custom mask and enter the regular expression for the pattern you want to mask. This examples can help you configure custom masks for new incident threads.

    Example 1

    Suppose you want to mask all account numbers that match the pattern 123-123456. Enter [0-9]{3}-[0-9]{6}. As a result, all account numbers that match this pattern will display as XXXXXXXXXX in new incident threads. (Notice that all characters are masked, including the hyphen.)

    Example 2

    In this example, we’ll define a mask for Canadian postal codes that match the pattern K8N 5W6.

    Enter [A-Z]{1}[0-9]{1}[A-Z]{1} [0-9]{1}[A-Z]{1}[0-9]{1}. As a result, all Canadian postal codes that match the pattern K8N 5W6 will display as XXXXXXX. The space is also masked.
    State This read-only field shows the status of changes you make in any custom mask Value field. Statuses include Valid, Requires Test, and Error.

    The status of this field may change when you enter sample text in the Preview Text field, and click the Test/Preview button.
    Preview Text Click in this field to test your mask patterns. Include samples that both match and closely match the custom pattern you configured.

    For example, to verify that your Canadian postal codes mask is masking only the alphanumeric pattern you configured, enter the following postal code samples.

    K8N 5W6

    4J3 P2P

    V5T 1Y9
    Test/Preview Click this button to apply the configured system and custom masks to the sample content in the Preview Text field.
    Result Text This field displays the masked preview text. Sample text that matches an enabled system or custom mask will display as masked. For example, the Canadian postal code samples in the Preview Text field displays the following Result Text values.

    XXXXXXX

    4J3 P2P

    XXXXXXX

    The masks applied to the first and third text samples because they matched the alphanumeric expression that we configured in our custom masks example. The second text sample did not match the pattern.

    Be sure to test a variety of sample values and adjust custom mask values until the Result Text displays text masked as you want. Also be sure to test inexact matches to ensure that masks are not affecting content that should not be masked.
  4. Click Save save your changes to system and custom masks.
    Note: You must deploy mask configurations before they will be committed to the database and applied to new incident threads.
  5. Click Deploy.
    The Deploy window opens.
  6. Enter the email addresses you want to send notifications to in the Email Address field.
    Multiple addresses must be separated by commas. The logged-in staff account’s email address is automatically added. Addresses entered in this field receive emails when deployment completes or when an issue preventing deployment is encountered.
  7. Click Deploy to deploy your changes.
    A Deploy message displays.
  8. Click Yes to confirm the deployment.
    The Incident Thread Masking editor will be unavailable until the deployment completes.
  9. Click OK in response to the message that reads, "Deploying has finished."

What to do next

Testing the accuracy of masking configurations in a test incident thread is an important security procedure. See Verify Changes to Incident Thread Masking in a Test Incident.