10 File-Based PII Scanning Tools

1. ManageEngine DataSecurity Plus: This tool offers file server auditing, compliance monitoring, and data loss prevention. It includes a PII scanner that categorizes sensitive data and can assess and reorganize access rights management structures
2. Identity Finder: This software scans files, emails, and databases to locate and secure sensitive information like social security numbers, credit card numbers, and other PII
3. PII Crawler: The Accurate and Affordable Personally Identifiable Information Data Scanner
4. Sensitive Number Finder (SENF): A tool specifically designed to search for sensitive numerical data like social security numbers and credit card numbers in files
5. Spider: While not exclusively for PII, this tool can be configured to search for specific patterns associated with PII in files across a network
6. Varonis: A powerful data security platform that includes PII scanning capabilities. It can identify and classify sensitive data across various file systems and cloud storage platforms
7. BigID: This tool specializes in unstructured data scanning, particularly for finding PII. It uses machine learning to identify and classify sensitive data across various file types and storage locations
8. Microsoft Purview: Part of Microsoft’s compliance and data governance suite, Purview includes capabilities for scanning and classifying PII across Microsoft 365 environments and on-premises file shares
9. PII Tools: A dedicated solution for PII discovery and management. It can scan various file types and storage locations to identify and classify PII
10. Amazon Macie: While primarily designed for AWS environments, Macie uses machine learning and pattern matching to automatically discover and protect sensitive data in S3 buckets. It can be particularly useful for organizations using AWS for file storage