{"id":19238,"date":"2026-09-11T23:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T03:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iri.com\/blog\/?p=19238"},"modified":"2026-09-11T23:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T03:00:54","slug":"pii-discovery-patterns-set-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iri.com\/blog\/data-protection\/pii-discovery-patterns-set-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Patterns & Sets in PII Discovery and Data Synthesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

IRI Workbench<\/a> provides two complementary resources for sensitive data discovery and data synthesis: Regular Expression (RegEx) patterns and set files<\/strong>. Patterns identify PII and other sensitive values by structure. Set files support dictionary-based matching and provide realistic values for pseudonymization and test data synthesis.<\/p>\n

Success in data governance and application development often depends on two related workflows. First, you identify sensitive information. Then, you manage that information responsibly. Without the right tools and techniques, finding PII and transforming it into usable, safe data can become labor-intensive and manual.<\/p>\n

The IRI Workbench<\/a> graphical user interface (GUI) supports sensitive data discovery, value replacement (pseudonymization), and test data synthesis. It provides these capabilities for IRI Data Protector Suite<\/span><\/a> tools such as FieldShield, DarkShield, and RowGen. IRI Workbench also provides two professionally vetted, out-of-the-box resources for these workflows: Patterns and Set Files.<\/p>\n

RegEx patterns and Set File values help identify sensitive data. Set files also support data replacement and value selection. Together, these resources help streamline data discovery, masking, and DevOps processes.\"IRI<\/p>\n

Data Discovery via Patterns<\/h2>\n

To identify sensitive data, IRI Workbench includes an extensive out-of-the-box library of Regular Expression (RegEx) patterns<\/strong>. These patterns can scan data sources for PII and other structured information, including government identifiers, license plates, financial identifiers, and timestamps.<\/p>\n

The pattern list shown in the tables below, but not the actual expressions themselves, identifies the RegEx expressions that IRI provides out of the box for FieldShield, DarkShield, and CellShield EE users during data discovery. Users can apply these patterns to column names as location matchers<\/strong><\/a> or to actual values in columns or files as data matchers<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Data Discovery via Set Files<\/h2>\n

Patterns are not the only way to recognize sensitive information. During data classification searches through relational databases or unstructured documents, the Set File Matcher<\/strong> can identify values by performing a dictionary lookup against a supplied text file containing strings.<\/p>\n

DarkShield, for example, can scan content for either:<\/p>\n