What benefit does data masking provide to organizations?

Data masking provides the benefit of allowing certain data visibility while protecting sensitive values, which is crucial for organizations that handle confidential or personally identifiable information. This technique replaces sensitive data with anonymized substitutes, ensuring that users who do not require access to the real data are still able to work with the dataset without exposing sensitive information.

For instance, in a development or testing environment, developers might need access to realistic data to ensure the software functions as intended, but they do not need access to actual customer names, Social Security numbers, or credit card information. Data masking allows them to use fictitious data that maintains the original data's structure but does not expose the real sensitive information, thereby minimizing risk of data breaches or unauthorized access.

The other options do not accurately represent the function of data masking. Making all data inaccessible does not serve practical purpose when certain visibility is necessary. Optimizing network performance is not a primary objective of data masking; rather, it focuses on security and compliance. Also, while data masking protects sensitive values, it does not eliminate the need for encryption, as encryption serves a different purpose by securing data in transit and at rest.