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* Single Endpoint Rest API
DarkShield has a singular endpoint, avoiding the need for multiple calls to configure a masking job and making the API compatible with load balancing tools such as NGINX.
* New Job Log
Log records all information provided by the API and Source during a search/masking job. Each log is scoped to a singular job with a timestamp.
* Configurable Log Level
The Job Log can filter or include more information about a DarkShield job depending on the log level the user sets.
* Performance Update
A new faster alternative to the update process (mask in place) in a relational database.
* Enhanced Support for RDB Constraints
Added support for triggers, unique constraints, immutable data types, composite keys, functional based indexes, etc…
* Phased out python libraries
Due to frequent issues with python dependencies used with AI related tasks, have shifted to shipping fully packaged executables that do away with need for installation of python.
*Dependencies Upgrade
To address the latest known vulnerabilities, upgrade third party libraries.
*Dynamic Matcher
Added a new search matcher that can reference results of column matchers to search free floating text.
*Conditional Matcher
Simple condition based matcher for HL7 and X12 added to help support client edge cases.
*Masking DICOM Images
Added the ability to search/mask images in DICOM in the REST API and Workbench GUI.
*Signature Detection
Added integration with DeepLobe Signature Detection model.
*SQL File Support
Added support to search and mask SQL files directly.
DarkShield 7
Dec 10, 2026
* The very latest goes here as a sub-title
* Breaking Changes to DarkShield
Due to improvements in DarkShield performance, inadequacies in response format had to be fixed. This caused breaking changes between versions but we have preserved the option to still use legacy format.
Due to improvements in DarkShield performance, inadequacies in response format had to be fixed. This caused breaking changes between versions but we have preserved the option to still use legacy format.
FieldShield 7
Jul 9, 2026
* Test Subtitle - Kevin
Kevin - Test content words words words words
DarkShield 7.0
Jun 15, 2026
* DarkShield 7
* Breaking Changes to DarkShield
Due to improvements in DarkShield performance, inadequacies in response format had to be fixed. This caused breaking changes between versions but we have preserved the option to still use legacy format.
Due to improvements in DarkShield performance, inadequacies in response format had to be fixed. This caused breaking changes between versions but we have preserved the option to still use legacy format.
CoSort 11
Jan 20, 2026
* CoSort 11.0
a) Operational Governance System (OGS)
Introduced with CoSort 11 is a new runtime CLI framework for enforcing granular RBAC policies and logging SortCL-compatible jobs in production. The system defines user, group and role permissions for specific scripts and script elements, generates a comprehensive new JSON performance and audit log for each run, can detect job script tampering through hashed-based signatures, manages date-based log retention behavior, supports rudimentary data descriptions (cataloging), and provides menu-driven policy file management and log wrangling tools to facilitate reporting. See separate OGS documentation (not the CoSort manual) for details.
Introduced with CoSort 11 is a new runtime CLI framework for enforcing granular RBAC policies and logging SortCL-compatible jobs in production. The system defines user, group and role permissions for specific scripts and script elements, generates a comprehensive new JSON performance and audit log for each run, can detect job script tampering through hashed-based signatures, manages date-based log retention behavior, supports rudimentary data descriptions (cataloging), and provides menu-driven policy file management and log wrangling tools to facilitate reporting. See separate OGS documentation (not the CoSort manual) for details.
FieldShield 6
Jan 10, 2026
* FieldShield 6
Ut commodo ex id lorem bibendum gravida. Maecenas nunc ex, lobortis non maximus at, ultricies vel odio. Vivamus sagittis augue elit, imperdiet semper velit lacinia quis. Nam arcu arcu,
FieldShield 5
Dec 10, 2025
* FieldShield 5
FieldShield 5 adds support for Excel, allowing data masking to and from spreadsheets, and between other structured sources like database tables and flat files. FieldShield 5 also integrates with Azure Key Vault and Townsend Alliance Key Manager to handle encryption keys. Additionally, the data profiling and search wizards in the IRI Workbench development environment for FieldShield now display interactive dashboards that meaningfully represent PII values and locations.
DarkShield 6
Jan 1, 2025
* DarkShield 6
* Single Endpoint Rest API
DarkShield has a singular endpoint, avoiding the need for multiple calls to configure a masking job and making the API compatible with load balancing tools such as NGINX.
* New Job Log
Log records all information provided by the API and Source during a search/masking job. Each log is scoped to a singular job with a timestamp.
* Configurable Log Level
The Job Log can filter or include more information about a DarkShield job depending on the log level the user sets.
* Performance Update
A new faster alternative to the update process (mask in place) in a relational database.
* Enhanced Support for RDB Constraints
Added support for triggers, unique constraints, immutable data types, composite keys, functional based indexes, etc…
* Phased out python libraries
Due to frequent issues with python dependencies used with AI related tasks, have shifted to shipping fully packaged executables that do away with need for installation of python.
*Dependencies Upgrade
To address the latest known vulnerabilities, upgrade third party libraries.
*Dynamic Matcher
Added a new search matcher that can reference results of column matchers to search free floating text.
*Conditional Matcher
Simple condition based matcher for HL7 and X12 added to help support client edge cases.
*Masking DICOM Images
Added the ability to search/mask images in DICOM in the REST API and Workbench GUI.
*Signature Detection
Added integration with DeepLobe Signature Detection model.
*SQL File Support
Added support to search and mask SQL files directly.
DarkShield 5
Jan 1, 2024
* Improved DB processing performance by implementing multi threading.
* Multithreading in RDB
Improved DB processing performance by implementing multi threading.
*Threshold Classification in RDB
Like FieldShield, DarkShield will now user search matcher thresholds to prevent edge cases where PII in record escapes matcher’s detection from being overlooked. (applies to scalar columns only)
* EDI HL7/X12
Added support for file types HL7 and X12.
Improved DB processing performance by implementing multi threading.
*Threshold Classification in RDB
Like FieldShield, DarkShield will now user search matcher thresholds to prevent edge cases where PII in record escapes matcher’s detection from being overlooked. (applies to scalar columns only)
* EDI HL7/X12
Added support for file types HL7 and X12.
CoSort 10.5
Jun 30, 2021
* CoSort 10.5
a) Database Lookups
As an alternative to drawing values from external set files, it is now also possible in SortCL /FIELD statements to use some existing SET file attributes in conjunction with values in a DSN-connected database table.
b) Data Vault Support
IRI Workbench now provides a wizard in the Voracity menu to generate a Data Vault table with RDB production schema or synthetic test data.
c) Sybase and MS SQL Date Handling
Current time, data and timestamp data types are now supported.
d) EPWD, EUID, EPASS, and cspasswd
Encrypted usernames and passwords may be specified in the ODBC connection string by using "EUID:encrypted_username" and "EPWD:encrypted_password" in place of UID and PWD followed by clear text.
Encrypted passphrases may be specified as an argument to encryption functions with the syntax "EPASS:encrypted_passphrase" in place of the clear text passphrase.
The "cspasswd" executable is included in the CoSort product distribution to be used to encrypt the password or username for EPWD, EUID, and EPASS.
e) Encrypted credentials in ODBC connection strings
User IDs and passwords for database connections can be optionally encrypted when used in a job script.
f) Empty tags or attributes in XML output
The existing resource control setting, ON_EMPTY_OBJECT_VALUE, may be set to REMOVE_EMPTY to prevent the writing of tags and attributes with empty values in XML output. This setting was previously only applicable to JSON formatted output.
g) Legacy Numeric Output
The new resource control setting, LEGACY_NUMERIC_OUTPUT, is available to revert the reformatting of output records to the way they were handled in CoSort 9. When set to 0 or OFF (the default) NUMERIC output is reformatted to assert output field precision. When set to 1 or ON, NUMERIC output precision is only enforced when the field precision or data type has changed.
h) /PROCESS=ASN.1
SortCL now supports the processing of files based on any ASN.1 schema and encoding. asn1_2ddf, a new metadata utility for ASN.1 encoded files, has been developed to aid in gathering metadata from such files for use with SortCL.
i) /PROCESS=XLS and /PROCESS=XLSX
Reading and writing cell data from .xls and .xlsx spreadsheet files is now supported. Additionally, xls2ddf, a new metadata utility for XLS and XLSX files, is included.
j) Location DEF Expansion
SDEF has been added as a new field location definition to be used with XLS and XLSX formats.
CDEF has been added as a new field attribute to support CSV output column names that do not comply with field name restrictions. This includes UTF-8 characters and names with leading digits or embedded white space.
k) Eclipse Upgrade
IRI Workbench supporting CoSort 10 and other IRI tools is now based on Eclipse 2020-06 and 64-bit JRE 1.8.
l) New Integrations with Splunk and Value Labs
A purpose-built app for Splunk directly executes and consumes job data from SortCL and compatible IRI programs. The ValueLabs Test Data Hub can also create, modify, and launch SortCL scripts for data masking and synthesis jobs.
m) Discovery Dashboards in IRI Workbench
A number of visualizations can now be generated from the Data Class Schema (and Directory) Search wizards in addition to their traditional log output.
As an alternative to drawing values from external set files, it is now also possible in SortCL /FIELD statements to use some existing SET file attributes in conjunction with values in a DSN-connected database table.
b) Data Vault Support
IRI Workbench now provides a wizard in the Voracity menu to generate a Data Vault table with RDB production schema or synthetic test data.
c) Sybase and MS SQL Date Handling
Current time, data and timestamp data types are now supported.
d) EPWD, EUID, EPASS, and cspasswd
Encrypted usernames and passwords may be specified in the ODBC connection string by using "EUID:encrypted_username" and "EPWD:encrypted_password" in place of UID and PWD followed by clear text.
Encrypted passphrases may be specified as an argument to encryption functions with the syntax "EPASS:encrypted_passphrase" in place of the clear text passphrase.
The "cspasswd" executable is included in the CoSort product distribution to be used to encrypt the password or username for EPWD, EUID, and EPASS.
e) Encrypted credentials in ODBC connection strings
User IDs and passwords for database connections can be optionally encrypted when used in a job script.
f) Empty tags or attributes in XML output
The existing resource control setting, ON_EMPTY_OBJECT_VALUE, may be set to REMOVE_EMPTY to prevent the writing of tags and attributes with empty values in XML output. This setting was previously only applicable to JSON formatted output.
g) Legacy Numeric Output
The new resource control setting, LEGACY_NUMERIC_OUTPUT, is available to revert the reformatting of output records to the way they were handled in CoSort 9. When set to 0 or OFF (the default) NUMERIC output is reformatted to assert output field precision. When set to 1 or ON, NUMERIC output precision is only enforced when the field precision or data type has changed.
h) /PROCESS=ASN.1
SortCL now supports the processing of files based on any ASN.1 schema and encoding. asn1_2ddf, a new metadata utility for ASN.1 encoded files, has been developed to aid in gathering metadata from such files for use with SortCL.
i) /PROCESS=XLS and /PROCESS=XLSX
Reading and writing cell data from .xls and .xlsx spreadsheet files is now supported. Additionally, xls2ddf, a new metadata utility for XLS and XLSX files, is included.
j) Location DEF Expansion
SDEF has been added as a new field location definition to be used with XLS and XLSX formats.
CDEF has been added as a new field attribute to support CSV output column names that do not comply with field name restrictions. This includes UTF-8 characters and names with leading digits or embedded white space.
k) Eclipse Upgrade
IRI Workbench supporting CoSort 10 and other IRI tools is now based on Eclipse 2020-06 and 64-bit JRE 1.8.
l) New Integrations with Splunk and Value Labs
A purpose-built app for Splunk directly executes and consumes job data from SortCL and compatible IRI programs. The ValueLabs Test Data Hub can also create, modify, and launch SortCL scripts for data masking and synthesis jobs.
m) Discovery Dashboards in IRI Workbench
A number of visualizations can now be generated from the Data Class Schema (and Directory) Search wizards in addition to their traditional log output.
DarkShield 4
Dec 3, 2020
* DarkShield 4
DarkShield 4 adds support for simultaneous data searching and masking in relational and NoSQL databases, including Hive, MongoDB, Oracle 19c, Snowflake and Elasticsearch. According to IRI CTO Don Purnhagen, "DarkShield can locate and mask PII found in complex key-value pairs and arrays, free-form text, and embedded documents or images in RDB columns or NoSQL collections."
