Find out how Solis does data mining differently
How Does Data Mining Work
In today’s complex data environments, legacy data mining solutions are becoming less and less effective. Older systems rely heavily on simple keyword searches. This often results in a high volume of false positives, which then requires manual review. This inefficiency means data review teams waste valuable time and resources sifting through irrelevant documents. Legacy systems also struggle to keep pace with evolving data privacy regulations - and with the increasingly sophisticated data breaches we are now seeing. All of this makes it hard for businesses to meet regulatory requirements without incurring excessive costs.
As leaders in the data mining and breach response space, Solis sees such legacy tools as outmoded relics, no longer sufficient to ensure accurate efficient data mining and breach response.
Our approach to data mining
Driven by our market-leading data science team, Solis is shaking things up with an innovative process that leverages the power of machine learning to deliver faster, more cost-effective data mining. This work marks a big step forward in data breach handling. It integrates AI with a purpose-built platform to process large volumes of sensitive data, faster and more accurately than ever before. Not only does this enhance data analysis speed and precision, it also provides peace-of-mind to those affected by breaches, ensuring they’re notified quickly and authoritatively. We’ve been proud to see the difference our continuous AI development is making out there in the real world, helping safeguard the public and driving innovation.
The data mining process
Phase 1: Data upload and automated analysis
The first step in the Solis data mining process involves uploading the relevant data on to our platform. This is then analysed, using a combination of keyword searches and custom-built machine learning models that identify sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI). Our models are optimised to detect information - like names, addresses, credit card details, and other sensitive data - which businesses have a regulatory obligation to protect.
Once this analysis is complete, the system generates an automated assessment. This details what sensitive information has been identified, and also provides an indication of the scale of work required to ensure regulatory compliance . Solis clients and their legal teams use this automated assessment to evaluate the risk of harm posed by a breach, and any associated regulatory obligations.
Phase 2: Data capture and manual review
In the second phase of our process, the focus shifts to a high-level assessment and capture of data. Data reviewers examine flagged documents to confirm the presence of PII or PHI, and break down the document types detected into groups (classifications). Based on their experience with similar cases, our team advises on which document types (for example: contact forms, credit card statements, or employment documents) we believe should be included in data collection.
Following review and approval by the client and their legal counsel, we capture the data from the selected document types and merge or de-duplicate any duplicate entries to create a clean and accurate dataset. The final output is an Excel spreadsheet listing which individuals information was captured, exactly what was captured, and where it originated from.
Risk assessment and notification
This spreadsheet is a crucial point of reference for legal teams. It allows them to group individuals into different risk categories. For example, low-risk individuals might only need to receive a notification on the company’s website, while high-risk individuals may require direct contact via a phone call, letter, or email. Our platform also tags all data back to its original source document. This helps businesses fulfil privacy obligations like data access requests from notified individuals.
Human-verifiable processes
All processes within Solis’ platform are 100% human-verifiable, ensuring the results can withstand legal scrutiny. This enables businesses to present their findings confidently in court, backed by reliable transparent data handling.
Security and data protection
Solis ensures data security and compliance by storing data in a number of regional centres, depending on project location. This ensures compliance with data sovereignty laws in countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. To minimise security risks, we ensure daily backups, with 14-day retention, TLS encryption for all related communications, and regular penetration tests by a third-party. We reinforce our employee security with background checks and audit logs, while user access is controlled by multi-factor authentication (MFA) and strict privilege rules. All our devices are secured with Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) software and monitored by our 24/7 global Security Operations Centre (SOC), ensuring continuous protection against evolving threats.
Conclusion
The data mining solution we operate at Solis revolutionises how businesses handle sensitive information during data breaches. Moving beyond the limitations of legacy tools, Solis has developed a system that leverages AI to streamline the breach assessment process, reducie manual labour and improve accuracy. This innovative approach ensures that businesses can respond quickly to breaches, meet their regulatory requirements, and protect customer data with confidence. With advanced security protocols and an ongoing commitment to developing new and more powerful solutions, Solis is setting the standard for data mining in the age of digital risk management.
