Salting text in database tables, text files, and data feeds

A method for determining whether a wild data file is a leaked data file, wherein the wild data file comprises a plurality of records, and wherein each of the records comprises at least one field, the method comprising the steps of:

• a. for a Recipient ID record stored in a Recipient ID database, reading a key field, a numeric value, and a salting field from the Recipient ID database that is associated with the Recipient ID;
• b. identifying the key field in at least one of the records of the data file, wherein the key field contains one of a plurality of key data values;
• c. associating the numeric value with a corresponding key data value;
• d. identifying the salting field in at least one of the records of the data file;
• e. for at least one of the records in the data file, checking for the presence of a salt in the salting field based on the numeric value associated with the key data value in the key field;
• and
• f. returning an indicator of whether the salt was found and associating the indicator with the Recipient ID.