Metadata removal/DLP tools
As DLP is an important method to avoid data loss. The above example is quite generic to get us some idea about how DLP works. Now as per our topic we are more interested in metadata removal. So there are also different tools available to remove metadata or we can also say them as metadata DLP tools. Some of those are mentioned below.
MetaShield Protector
MetaShield Protector is a solution which helps to prevent data loss through office documents published on the website. It is installed and integrated at web server level of the website. The only limitation of this is that, it is only available for IIS web server. Other than that It supports a wide range of office documents. Some of the popular file types are ppt, doc, xls, pptx, docx, xlsx, jpeg, pdf, etc. On a request for any of these document types, it cleans it on the fly and then delivers it. MetaShield Protector can be found at https://www.elevenpaths.com/services/html_en/metashield.html. The tool is available at https://www.elevenpaths.com/labstools/emetrules/index.html.
MAT
MAT or metadata anonymization toolkit is a graphical user interface tool which also helps to remove metadata from different types of files. It is developed in Python and utilizes hachoir library for the purpose. As earlier we discussed a bit about hachoir Python library and one of its project in hachoir-metadata portion, this is another project based on the same library. The details regarding the same can be found here https://mat.boum.org/.
The best thing about MAT is that it is open source and supports a wide range of file extensions such as png, jpeg, docx, pptx, xlsx, pdf, tar, mp3, torrent etc.
MyDLP
It is a product by Comodo which also provides wide range of security product and services. MyDLP is an one stop solution for different potential data leak areas. In an organization not only documents but also emails, USB devices, and other similar devices are potential source of data leak. And in this case it allows an organization to easily deploy and configure this solution to monitor, inspect, and prevent all the outgoing critical data. The details of MyDLP can be found here. http://www.mydlp.com.
OpenDLP
OpenDLP is an open source centrally managed data loss prevention tool released under the GPL. From a centralized web application it can identify sensitive data in different types of systems such as Windows and Unix as well as different types of databases such as MySQL and MSSQL. The project can be found here. https://code-google-com.eztncc.vccs.edu:2443/p/opendlp/.
Doc Scrubber
A freeware to scrub off hidden data from word documents (.doc). Some of its popular features are it allows to scrub multiple doc files at a time. Doc Scrubber can be downloaded from http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/dsdownload.html.
Removing Geo-tags
As we discussed earlier that how geotags can be dangerous for a user in an attacker point of view, as it reveals exact location about a user, here some settings in Picasa can help us to remove these geotags. Picasa, the image organizing and editing application by Google can help to remove geotags from images. The link to the help and support page is http://support.google.com.eztncc.vccs.edu:2048/picasa/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=70822.
We can also use Exif Tool discussed earlier to remove such data.
Though mainly metadata is used for the organization and linking of data it can also be critical during cyber investigations as well as pentest exercises. As discussed earlier, most of them are harmless but sometimes it can reveal some sensitive data. As many individuals as well as organizations are unaware of its existence, they don’t pay much attention to it. The solutions discussed above must be tried to make it easier to mitigate any risk arising from such information.