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# System prepended metadata

title: How to Detect Personally Identifiable Information in Network Folders

---

As the rise of data breaches and stricter adherence to privacy policies continues, companies need to take measures to prevent accidental sharing of PII in digital shared environments. Shared network folders used for team collaboration and file storage often turn into unmarked graveyards of sensitive documents. By using a [sensitive data scanner](https://angryscan.org/), your organization automates the process of finding PII in network directories and safeguards the integrity of your security and compliance programs by minimizing the chance for unauthorized access.

In this article, we discuss how to use automated techniques to discover PII in network shares and provide an overview of modern data discovery capabilities, best practices for protecting sensitive files, and essential questions about finding and protecting personal information. Even by having an appreciation and putting these methods in place, the smallest company can know that its data is secure, maintain compliance with various regulations and establish trust among clientele and employees.

## **What is PII, and Why is it Important to Discover?**

PII — Personally identifiable information is any data that could be used to differentiate or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information. Examples include:

- **Full names**
- **Social Security or national identification numbers**
- **Contact details** (home or IP email and addresses)
- **Dates of birth**
- **Financial or payment details**
- **Employment or health records**

Sharing PII in unprotected shared folders raises the risk of accidental exposure, unauthorized access or non-compliance with regulations. And actively seeking and protecting PII is at the core of information governance, especially since regulatory stances such as GDPR, HIPAA and CCPA impose stringent requirements for controlling and reporting on how personal data are handled.

## **Why Manual Approaches Are Not Enough**

In the past, companies have attempted to manually locate sensitive documents—most commonly by asking employees to browse directories or look at names of files, or even comb through the document's content. However, manual attempts usually give the following reasons:

- **Human Failure and lack of uniformity** in the application of search terms
- **Non-scalable time consuming processes**
- **No view of deep subfolders / archived files**
- **Ineffective detection** of the movement of data or duplication of files

Now the machine can do it Organizations today aren't manually scanning their sensitive data; they're letting an automated scanner take over that does it systematically, accurately, and repeatedly.

## **How Sensitive Data Scanners Are Automated**

Sensitive data scan A sensitive data scanner leverages algorithms, pattern matching and pre-defined data rules to search file shares of any size or complexity in less time. These tools can:

- **Search for filenames, contents and metadata.**
- **Look for patterns in the data** that match PII (e.g., credit card or national ID formats).
- **Tag, categorize and post discoveries** without involving subscribers directly.
- **Integrate with SIEMs.**

| Feature | Manual | Automation Scanners |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Speed | Slow | Fast |
| Accuracy | Varied | Very reliable |
| Scalability | Low | High |
| Audit Logging | None | In system |
| Integration | Impossible | Possible with security tools |
| Cost Over Time | High (labor) | Lower (automation) |

## **Core Processes of Automatic PII Detection**

There are a number of strategic steps that we'll need to undergo to deploy the automatic sensitive data scanner:

### **Define Sensitive Data Types**

Solidify a strong understanding of what IS PII in you work environment (locale laws/ policies).

### **Install and Configure Sensitive Data Scanners**

Select and set up tooling that matches your network layout, storage formats, and compliance requirements.

### **Scan Shared Network Folders**

You can schedule and perform regular scans on all folders, hard disks, or file systems.

### **Review and Classify Findings**

Analyze scan findings, tag identified PII, rank remediation actions including encryption, limited access or secure deletion.

### **Report and Monitor**

Create extensive logs and compliance reports for further investigations and evidentiary needs.

| Data Type | Example Patterns | Format Examples |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Social Security Numbers | XXX-XX-XXXX OR \d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4} | 123-45-6789 |
| Payment Card Numbers | 16-digits sequences | 4111 1111 1111 1111 |
| Email Addresses | [username@domain.com](mailto:username@domain.com) | [john.doe@email.com](mailto:john.doe@email.com) |
| bDATEs | MM/DD/YYYY | 12/31/1985 |
| Passport Numbers | Alphanumeric strings | A1234567 |

## **The Must-Have Features in a Sensitive Data Scanner**

Here are the key features to look for when choosing a data discovery tool:

- Standard and customized detection templates for PII

Recognize the most important file types (documents, spreadsheets, archives)

Thorough scanning of any nested folder structure

Easy to use dashboards and scheduled reporting

Works seamlessly with the security policy and existing access-controls

## **Ongoing PII Protection Best Practices**

After PII is discovered, the following habits will help with ongoing security and compliance:

Periodically re-scan shared folders to detect new files.

Automatically alert on new PII finds.

Educate employees to identify and manage sensitive files.

Only allow authorized users to access shared folders.

Address unauthorized exposure incidents immediately.

## **FAQs**

### **What's a sensitive data scanner?**

A sensitive data scanner is a bot or programmed system that processes files and directories on a network environment for scanning and identification which alerts the reporting of identified sensitive data such as PII or financial records. It uses data patterns and analytic rules to discover sensitive information no matter where it is stored.

### **How frequent should PII in network folders be scanned?**

The frequency will depend on how your organisation's data flows, the regulation you're subject to or want to adhere to and risk appetite. Most experts recommend scanning images every month, or more often in environments with a lot of file sharing or exposure to known threats.

### **Are the automated scanners able to accurately scan for any type of PII?**

Automated scanners are good at catching structured patterns (like social security numbers and emails) but may miss unstructured or badly formatted data. Automated scans complemented by periodic manual reviews increase the accuracy and detection of violations.

### **Can PII discovery tools do either on-premises folder or cloud-based storage?**

Most of the newer sensitive data scanners do support scanning cloud storage solutions (like OneDrive, Google Drive, dropbox ...) and traditional on prem file shares– this give s you a 360 degree visibility if you are working in hybrid environments.

### **What should you do when you find PII in a shared folder?**

Companies must evaluate exposure risk, limit or remove unauthorized access of them, encrypt or move the files in a secure way and document findings for compliance. Education and ongoing monitoring of an employee prevent recurrence.

### **Is there regulation that requires data discovery?**

Many regulations, such as GDPR/HIPAA/CCPA/etcetera require that organizations know where PII is being stored and protected sufficiently. Ongoing data discovery is a best practice and it's often required either directly or implicitly by many privacy laws.

## **Conclusion**

The advent of remote working and online collaboration environments has turned network folders into such a vulnerability hotbed for PII exposure. Manual discovery approaches can no longer carry the force due to extensive regulations and organization complexity. The investment in sensitive data scanning that have automated approaches will be essential if you want to boost your corporate data governance, prevent any breaches and show all compliance. By frequently scanning, identifying and securing PII in network shares, organizations can assure themselves that they're protecting both the privacy of their clients as well as their own rye in a shifting digital world.