Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional Practice

Tokenization refers to the process whereby sensitive data is replaced with unique symbols, or "tokens," that retain all the essential information about the data without compromising its security. This method allows organizations to protect sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or personal identification details, by substituting these values with non-sensitive equivalents that can be used in place of the original data without revealing it. The tokens can then be mapped back to the original data only by a tokenization system, which helps secure the sensitive data while still enabling its use in various applications and systems.

In contrast, the other options describe different concepts unrelated to tokenization. Assigning user roles pertains to access control and permission management. Backing up data regularly refers to data preservation methods. Strategies for public key infrastructure focus on cryptographic key management rather than data replacement. Each of these activities serves important purposes in the realm of data security and IT management, but they do not encompass the core principle of tokenization.