What does tokenization mean?

Tokenization is the act of breaking up a sequence of strings into pieces such as words, keywords, phrases, symbols and other elements called tokens. Tokens can be individual words, phrases or even whole sentences. In the process of tokenization, some characters like punctuation marks are discarded.

Why is tokenization a non-destructive form of obfuscation?

Because tokenization is a non-destructive form of obfuscation, data is recoverable via a unique security key. To help explain this more, think of tokenization as a secret code that uses a key to retrieve the coded message.

What is Pan tokenization & how does it work?

The PCI Council defines tokenization as "a process by which the primary account number (PAN) is replaced with a surrogate value called a token. A PAN may be linked to a reference number through the tokenization process. In this case, the merchant simply has to retain the token and a reliable third party controls the relationship and holds the PAN.

What is cryptographic tokenization?

Cryptographic tokenization generates tokens using strong cryptography; the cleartext data element (s) are not stored anywhere – just the cryptographic key. NIST-standard FF1-mode AES is an example of cryptographic tokenization.