Sensitive Data scanning: Top 13 PII Data scanning tools in 2025

As businesses continue to digitize at an unprecedented rate, the safeguarding of sensitive data becomes paramount. Imagine you're tasked with protecting your organization's digital assets—it's not just about securing data, but ensuring it remains private and compliant with evolving regulations.

This is where effective data scanning becomes crucial. Utilizing advanced data scanning tools is essential for identifying vulnerabilities and preventing data breaches before they occur. Whether you're a security professional, IT manager, or business executive, understanding the top data scanning tools available in 2025 can empower you to enhance your cybersecurity posture significantly.

This article will guide you through why data scanning is important, what to consider when choosing a data scanning tool, and provide a detailed review of the top 10 tools this year, positioning you to make informed decisions that protect your company's data integrity.

✨ What Is PII Scanning?

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to any data that can identify an individual — directly (name, SSN, email) or indirectly (IP address, login pattern, geolocation).

PII scanning is the process of automatically locating, classifying, and monitoring such data across your environment. It answers questions like:

• Where does my sensitive data live?
• Who has access to it?
• Is it shared externally or stored insecurely?
• Can I mask, redact, or delete it automatically?

Without automated scanning, organizations are essentially blind to their data exposure — and therefore at risk of breaches, fines, and loss of trust.

Importance of Data Scanning

Data scanning is a vital component in the cybersecurity arsenal of organizations across various industries. As digital landscapes evolve and data breaches become more sophisticated, the need for robust security measures that preemptively identify and mitigate risks has never been more crucial.

• Ensuring Security and Compliance

The primary importance of data scanning lies in its ability to maintain security and ensure compliance with stringent regulatory standards. Industries such as healthcare, finance, and e-commerce, where sensitive personal and financial information is frequently processed, require rigorous data protection measures to safeguard against breaches and unauthorized access. Data scanning tools help detect vulnerabilities in systems before they can be exploited by malicious actors, thus preventing potential data breaches.

• Proactive Risk Mitigation

Moreover, proactive data scanning facilitates ongoing vigilance in a cybersecurity landscape that is constantly changing. These tools scan databases, applications, and network systems to identify anomalies that could indicate a security threat or compliance issue, providing an early warning system to mitigate risks effectively. Regular data scanning not only helps in recognizing the immediate threats but also aids in understanding broader security trends, allowing organizations to adapt and strengthen their defenses against future attacks.

By implementing comprehensive data scanning practices, organizations can maintain a strong security posture, comply with global data protection regulations, and foster trust among customers and stakeholders.

PII scanning tools solve this by:

• Continuously discovering sensitive data across SaaS, cloud, and endpoints.
• Classifying it into data types (SSN, email, DOB, health info, card data, etc.).
• Applying policy-based remediation — such as redaction, masking, deletion, or access revocation.
• Generating audit reports for compliance frameworks like GDPR, SOC 2, and HIPAA.
• Sending real-time alerts for exposure (public file links, external sharing, or GenAI prompt leaks).

Considerations When Selecting a Data Scanning Tool aka PII Data Scanning

Choosing the right data scanning tool is pivotal for enhancing your organization's cybersecurity posture. There are several critical criteria to consider to ensure that the tool not only meets your current needs but is also a viable long-term solution.

Key Criteria for Selection

• Accuracy: The effectiveness of a data scanning tool is largely dependent on its accuracy. Tools must be capable of detecting a wide range of vulnerabilities and accurately identifying sensitive data without generating excessive false positives. This precision is crucial for timely and relevant responses to potential threats.
• Ease of Use: A tool’s usability can significantly impact the efficiency of your security team. Tools that feature intuitive interfaces and straightforward reporting capabilities can enhance productivity and ensure that even team members with limited technical knowledge can operate them effectively.
• Integration Capabilities: In today's complex IT environments, the ability to integrate seamlessly with existing systems and software is essential. A data scanning tool should complement and augment your current security infrastructure, which may include integration with incident response platforms, SIEM systems, and other cybersecurity solutions.
• Cost: Budget considerations are always important. Evaluate not only the upfront costs but also the ongoing expenses related to updates, maintenance, and additional features. Opting for a cost-effective solution that doesn't compromise on quality is crucial for maximizing your cybersecurity investment.
• Scalability: As your organization grows, so too will your data and security needs. A scalable data scanning tool can adapt to increasing data volumes and more complex network environments without degrading performance. Ensuring that a tool can scale effectively will help protect your growing enterprise without the need for frequent tool replacements.
• Support: Reliable customer support is vital, especially when dealing with complex security tools. Adequate support includes technical assistance, regular updates, and training resources to help your team stay ahead of new threats. Additionally, look for vendors that provide a strong community and resource base, which can be invaluable for troubleshooting and best practices.

✨ Key Features to Look For in a PII Scanning Tool (Data Scanning Tool)

1. Comprehensive Detection — Structured (DBs), Unstructured (PDFs, Slack, emails), and Semi-structured (JSON, CSV).
2. Context-Aware ML Models — Understand whether “123456789” is an SSN, account number, or random digits.
3. Custom Rules — Ability to define domain-specific patterns and keywords.
4. Remediation Actions — Masking, redaction, revoking external access, labeling, or deletion.
5. Integrations — APIs, connectors for SaaS apps, SIEM tools (Splunk, Sumo Logic).
6. Audit Reporting — Generate compliance-ready reports (GDPR Article 30, SOC 2 evidence).
7. Scalability — Scan millions of files or terabytes of data with cost-efficiency.
8. Privacy-by-Design — Ensure the scanner itself doesn’t transmit sensitive data externally.

Top 13 Data Scanning (aka PII Scanning) Tools in 2025

Now, let’s take a deeper look at the top data scanning tools you can pick in 2025.

1. Strac

Overview:
Strac is an all-in-one Data Discovery, DSPM, and DLP platform that automatically scans, classifies, and remediates PII across SaaS apps, Cloud platforms, GenAI tools, and Endpoints. It identifies sensitive information in real time and enforces security through redaction, masking, labeling, and access revocation — all from a single console.

Best For: Companies that need unified discovery + protection across Slack, Google Workspace, Office 365, Salesforce, Zendesk, Intercom, AWS, and GenAI apps.

Key Features:

• Agentless SaaS & Cloud integrations.
• Real-time redaction of messages, files, and GenAI prompts.
• Self-hosted option (runs inside customer AWS account).
• SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI compliant.
• Tunable ML-based PII detection with low false positives.

Why It Stands Out:
Unlike traditional scanners that only detect data, Strac performs end-to-end remediation — helping you find, fix, and prevent PII exposure.

2. AWS Macie

Overview:
Amazon Macie is a fully managed data discovery and classification service for S3. It uses ML to identify PII, financial data, and credentials across large-scale cloud storage.

Best For: Organizations storing sensitive data in AWS S3 buckets.

Key Features:

• Native AWS integration (CloudWatch, EventBridge, GuardDuty).
• Automated discovery and continuous monitoring.
• Rich visualization of risk exposure.

Limitation:
Only covers S3 data — not ideal for multi-cloud or SaaS environments.

3. Google Cloud DLP (Sensitive Data Protection)

Overview:
Google’s DLP API detects and classifies over 100+ data types in Cloud Storage, BigQuery, and custom applications.

Best For: Engineering teams building custom pipelines that require API-based detection and redaction.

Key Features:

• Data masking, tokenization, and de-identification APIs.
• Built-in info types for global PII formats.
• Integrates directly with Google Cloud services.

Limitation:
Requires technical setup and limited visibility into SaaS or non-GCP systems.

4. BigID

Overview:
BigID is an enterprise-grade data discovery and privacy intelligence platform. It scans across structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data to map sensitive assets and access rights.

Best For: Large enterprises needing compliance-grade discovery and cataloging.

Key Features:

• ML-driven data classification and identity correlation.
• Data inventory across on-prem and cloud.
• Integrations for GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA workflows.

Limitation:
Heavy deployment; slower time-to-value for mid-market teams.

5. Securiti.ai

Overview:
Securiti combines DSPM, PrivacyOps, and Governance into one platform. It offers rich discovery, data lineage, and regulatory mapping.

Best For: Privacy and compliance teams managing multi-jurisdictional privacy laws.

Key Features:

• Data subject request automation.
• Multi-cloud discovery and consent management.
• Continuous posture scoring.

Limitation:
High setup complexity; better suited for regulated industries.

6. Cyera

Overview:
Cyera focuses on cloud-native DSPM — discovering and classifying data across cloud and SaaS environments to provide contextual risk intelligence.

Best For: Security teams needing risk scoring and data flow visualization.

Key Features:

• Risk-based prioritization.
• Identity-aware data access mapping.
• Cloud-first design for AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Limitation:
Primarily cloud-focused; lacks remediation features like redaction or masking.

7. Nightfall AI

Overview:
Nightfall provides API-first DLP and PII scanning for modern SaaS applications such as Slack, GitHub, and Jira.

Best For: Engineering and DevSecOps teams wanting plug-and-play DLP APIs.

Key Features:

• Prebuilt detectors for PII, PCI, and secrets.
• Inline scanning for SaaS messages and files.
• Integration with GitHub, Slack, Google Drive, and Jira.

Limitation:
Detection-only focus; lacks native access control or remediation actions.

8. Spirion

Overview:
A pioneer in endpoint and file scanning, Spirion offers on-premises PII discovery with strong customization and audit capabilities.

Best For: Enterprises with legacy infrastructure and strict data residency requirements.

Key Features:

• Deep file scanning and reporting.
• Custom regex and keyword rules.
• Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints.

Limitation:
Limited automation and SaaS/cloud coverage.

9. Microsoft Presidio (Open Source)

Overview:
Presidio is an open-source framework for PII detection, anonymization, and redaction. It supports text, audio, and images, and can be deployed locally.

Best For: Developers building custom privacy workflows or on-device detection.

Key Features:

• Supports multiple NLP backends (SpaCy, Transformers).
• Detects standard PII entities across languages.
• Extensible and open for tuning.

Limitation:
Requires engineering effort; not plug-and-play for enterprise use.

10. ManageEngine DataSecurity Plus

Overview:
An affordable data visibility and protection suite for SMBs that includes file scanning and PII detection.

Best For: Mid-sized organizations securing file servers and local storage.

Key Features:

• File activity monitoring and alerting.
• Data classification reports.
• Custom policy engine for PCI and GDPR.

Limitation:
Lacks real-time SaaS or API-level scanning.

11. OneTrust

Overview:
OneTrust is a privacy and compliance management platform that includes PII discovery as part of its broader governance suite.

Best For: Enterprises focused on GDPR, CCPA, and ISO 27701 compliance alignment.

Key Features:

• Data inventory and mapping.
• Consent management and policy tracking.
• Integration with DSR (Data Subject Requests).

Limitation:
Not purpose-built for real-time DLP or SaaS integrations.

12. Open Raven

Overview:
Open Raven provides cloud-native data security and PII discovery for AWS, GCP, and Azure environments.

Best For: Cloud security teams needing continuous discovery and classification of unstructured data.

Key Features:

• Continuous S3 and RDS scanning.
• JSON-based policy engine.
• Integrations with SIEM/SOAR workflows.

Limitation:
Limited support for SaaS and endpoint-level protection.

13. Private AI

Overview:
Private AI offers on-device, privacy-preserving PII detection for text, audio, and video. It’s designed for companies that need GDPR-grade anonymization without sending data to the cloud.

Best For: Organizations that handle sensitive user communications or voice data (e.g., healthcare, finance, call centers).

Key Features:

• Local or self-hosted detection models.
• Real-time anonymization API.
• Supports 50+ PII entity types and multiple languages.

Limitation:
Primarily focused on text/audio; less coverage for cloud-native SaaS.

FAQs on PII Scanning aka Data Scanning Tools

What is a PII Scanning Tool?

A PII scanning tool automatically identifies personally identifiable information across your data sources. It can detect patterns like names, SSNs, emails, and credit card numbers.

How is PII Scanning different from DLP?

PII scanning focuses on detection and discovery, while DLP (Data Loss Prevention) adds enforcement — blocking, redacting, or alerting when PII moves outside safe zones.

Can I build my own PII scanning using regex?

You can, but regex-only solutions have high false positives and lack context. Modern tools use ML, NLP, and OCR for accuracy.

Does Strac support self-hosted scanning?

Yes. Strac can be deployed inside your AWS account, ensuring sensitive data never leaves your environment.

Conclusion

Selecting the right data scanning tool is crucial for effectively safeguarding your business’s sensitive data and ensuring compliance with various regulations. Each tool offers unique features and benefits tailored to different business needs and environments. As such, it's important to thoroughly assess these tools based on your specific requirements to find the best fit for your organization.

We encourage you to delve deeper into these options, explore their detailed functionalities, and consider a demo or trial. This will provide you with a hands-on understanding of how each tool can integrate into and enhance your security infrastructure. Discover more about these powerful tools today and take a proactive step towards strengthening your data security.