Secure Your Data: Masking Sensitive Information in Spring Boot APIs

source : www.inc.com

In the world of web applications, protecting user privacy is paramount. This includes safeguarding sensitive data like Social Security Numbers (SSN), phone numbers, and passwords. Exposing this information in plain text responses can be a security risk.

This article dives into data masking techniques for Spring Boot applications using custom annotations and Jackson serializers. We’ll create a solution that masks confidential data before it reaches the client-side, ensuring a secure and private user experience.

Understanding the Challenge

Imagine an application that retrieves user details, including SSN and phone numbers. By default, these details might be returned unmasked in the response, posing a security threat. Our goal is to mask these sensitive fields before sending the response back to the client.

Implementing Data Masking with Custom Annotations

Here’s how we’ll achieve data masking:

1. Custom Annotation: We’ll create an annotation named @MaskData to mark fields requiring masking.
2. Masking Logic: We’ll develop a custom serializer class that implements the JsonSerializer interface. This class will handle the masking logic…