RegEx for non-delimited SSNs

tspaby — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:11:58 GMT

Using the built-in non-delimited SSN data pattern generates too many false positives to be useful for us. I therefore want to build a regex that will accomplish the same thing. It appears that the regex engine in the Palo Alto is very limited in what it can handle. For example, it does not recognize "\b", any "(?" construct, or "{n}" pattern counts. How can I create a regex that will look for valid SSNs that are word-boundary delimited? Note that due to the nature of my business, I cannot count on any specific text string appearing in a file that contains SSNs. There are various characteristics I can likely count on, but they all require variable and optional pattern matching.

Also, what is the actual overhead associated with checking outbound documents using a regex? Will I see a significant performance hit?

Re: RegEx for non-delimited SSNs

VinceM — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:54:11 GMT

Hi,

Making test on my side and for your request it seem that regex which are today implemented in the PA will be not enough for your need.

Maybe you can make a feature request to your local Pa SE.

In https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/docs/DOC-4118 you will be able to find info concerning data pattern limitation.

topic RegEx for non-delimited SSNs in Automation/API Discussions

RegEx for non-delimited SSNs

Re: RegEx for non-delimited SSNs