Enforcement of multiple ownership of data on storage

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data is disclosed, the method including wrapping a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, where the at least two customer root keys are assigned to different user identifiers, where the at least two customer root keys are stored in different hardware security modules, and where the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforms to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service, and encrypting the data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to a computer-implemented method for providing secure data access, and more particularly to a computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data. The present disclosure further relates to a data protection system and computer program product for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data.

[0002] Protecting corporate or government data in any storage system, but especially cloud storage systems, is mandatory considering the increasing number of cyber attacks. Very often, sensitive data in the cloud is protected by a Hardware Security Module (HSM) service. Examples of this are products like Key Protect or Hyper Protect Crypto Service from IBM®. The data service uses a Customer Root Key (CRK) in each HSM, giving the client control over its data. Thus, the cloud operator usually does not have access to the encrypted data. This concept also includes CRK rotation and cryptographic erasure of the data by revoking the CRK, which means that the service cannot access the data any more.

[0003] However, HSMs are usually managed by client administrators. In theory and in practice, users can access the data, but from an organizational point of view, users should not. Currently, organizational processes are used to prevent access to encrypted data by customers or client operators. However, it is useful to have a technical implementation for this, since organizational processes are not proven to be "water-tight".

[0004] There are several disclosures related to data encryption. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020 / 0195621 discloses a method, apparatus and computer program product for encrypting and decrypting data using multiple authority keys, including receiving a data decryption request from a first computing device to decrypt the encrypted data, and determining whether a user key is associated with a key hierarchy that includes a server key.

[0005] Additionally, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019 / 0173674 discloses a method for facilitating and enabling key encryption key (KEK) rotation for running a multi-tenant system that does not require system downtime or interruption. An example method uses an existing KEK to decrypt a set of one or more DEKs; and re-encrypts the DEKs using a new KEK; all while simultaneously enabling servicing tenant requests.

[0006] However, a disadvantage of known solutions is that they may not completely prevent individual or malicious administrators from gaining access.

[0007] It may therefore be necessary to overcome this security hole and technically prevent a single operator or administrator from gaining access to encrypted data without authorization. Summary of the Invention

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data may be provided. The method includes wrapping a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers and stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys is applied according to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service. Further, the method includes encrypting the data by the data security access service using the unwrapped data encryption key.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a data protection system may be provided that provides a secure data access service that encrypts data. The system may include a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing program code portions that, when executed, enable the processor to wrap a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers and the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys is applied according to an access policy that defines that the assigned user identifier must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service. The processor may be enabled to encrypt data by the data security access service using the unwrapped data encryption key.

[0010] The proposed computer-implemented method for encrypting data and providing a secure data access service may exhibit multiple advantages, technical effects, contributions or improvements, or a combination thereof.

[0011] In general, sensitive encrypted data can be better protected using the technical concept proposed here. Advantageously, it can be prevented that a single operator or administrator alone, without any third party control, can access the encrypted data. This is achieved by a dual ownership of the data, i.e. a novel access method, thereby technically enforcing that data access can only be possible if two customer root keys are used in combination for the data encryption (decryption) key being unwrapped. At least two customer root keys used to protect the data encryption key or data access key are protected by hardware security modules linked to the individual user ID of each operator. Thus, at least two operators or administrators can be independently required to facilitate any access to the sensitive data.

[0012] Thereby, especially in cloud computing environments, data access that is not possible and not authorized by the cloud storage provider may remain intact. Furthermore, it may be enforced that at least one of the two customer root keys may be controlled by a formal government authority or other valid authority.

[0013] As a result, in the example, it is entirely avoided that an operator can solely access the salary of a company's executive director.

[0014] Another aspect is that each owner of the customer root key can unilaterally block access to the data. Use cases for this aspect include cryptographically erasing content by explicitly disabling access to the data by disabling access to the data encryption key used for the actual data.

[0015] Additional embodiments of the disclosure that are applicable to methods and systems are described below.

[0016] According to an embodiment, the wrapping structure may define an order of application of at least two customer root keys for wrapping the data encryption key. The wrapping structure may be defined as part of an access policy that also defines which multi-user root keys may have to be used to encrypt or decrypt the data encryption key DEK. Alternatively, the order of application of at least two customer root keys may be defined within the secure data access service or within a storage accessible only by the secure data access service. A useful order of wrapping may be defined by ascending or descending order of the customer root keys. This approach is also extendable to multiple customer root keys.

[0017] According to an embodiment, the secure data access service can store only the wrapped data encryption key (wDEK). Thus, only the unwrapped data encryption key can be available within the secure data access service as long as it is needed to encrypt or decrypt the data associated with it. In this way, the secure data access service can be constructed in a temporary and certified manner. Alternatively, the secure data access service can contain only a pointer to the wrapped data encryption key and / or data decryption key.

[0018] According to advantageous embodiments, the different Hardware Security Modules may be physically different Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), virtually different Hardware Security Modules or a mixture thereof. Using one (or several) HSMs has proven to be one of the most secure ways to protect data against unauthorized access. The proposed concept takes this security level to an even higher level.

[0019] According to a further embodiment, the at least two customer root keys are n customer root keys out of m customer root keys, where m>n. This can further extend the protection level as more customer root keys may be required, i.e., two or more operators with associated user or operator identifiers (i.e., user IDs) are required for authorized data access. Furthermore, this approach adds flexibility. As an example, if five operators are generally permitted to have access to secured data, it can be defined that only any combination of two or three or four or five operators can be required to access the data. In general, the number of possible combinations can be determined by the formula (m! / n!*(mn), where m is relatively close to n).

[0020] Furthermore, from an organizational perspective, which may be enabled by technical improvements, one of the n customer root keys may belong to a regulator. Thus, an operator cannot be allowed to access the data through their sole combination. It is always necessary to have the regulator as part of the group. As a result, very sophisticated policies can be implemented through appropriate wrapping schemes.

[0021] According to a further embodiment, the at least two customer root keys can be symmetric encryption / decryption keys. Symmetric keys can be sufficient since the keys may not be transferred along publicly accessible lines of communication. Thus, only one encryption / decryption key may be required by the secure data access service, and the order according to which the customer root keys may have to be applied can be easily defined.

[0022] According to another optional embodiment, the at least two customer root keys may be required to be different. This method can further increase data security since it can be enforced that the at least two customer root keys do not have the same value. Thus, a single human operator cannot gain access to the data by logging in with two user IDs and using the same customer root key.

[0023] According to further embodiments, the data encryption key can be a symmetric or asymmetric key, whereby the wrapping key, i.e., the customer root key, can be used to wrap a symmetric encryption / decryption key, or an asymmetric key pair for encryption and decryption, which is useful when data is encrypted and decrypted at another end of a public communication line.

[0024] According to another embodiment, the data encryption key may be valid only for a limited time window. This feature may also improve data security. If the data encryption key expires, the data may have to be decrypted using the old encryption key (in the case of a symmetric key) and then re-encrypted using the new data encryption key. Furthermore, the new data encryption key may have to be wrapped with at least two customer root keys. From there, only the new data encryption key can be enabled to properly encrypt and securely decrypt the data.

[0025] According to another embodiment, the wrapping structure may define an order of application of at least two customer root keys to unwrapping of data encryption keys. Thus, the same order may be enforced for wrapping data encryption / decryption keys and unwrapping data encryption / decryption keys. Typically, this is a result of the symmetrical nature of the customer root keys. This may also be an organization of access policies.

[0026] According to another embodiment, the unwrapped data encryption key is passed from the security service to other data access functions for final data access. Thus, the data encryption key is not directly used for data access, but the unwrapped data access key to other services can then access the data. This can be an effective approach to service chaining. Thus, a secure data access service can provide its wrapped / unwrapped services for some other services that ultimately access the data. Thus, wrapping / unwrapping central control can exist within a complex service-oriented architecture (SOA). Such an architecture can be successfully augmented with legacy installations and improve more centralized arbitrary coordinated control of data access.

[0027] Additionally, embodiments may be in the form of a method, an associated computer program product accessible from a computer usable or computer readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer, or any instruction execution system. For purposes of this description, a computer usable or computer readable medium may be any apparatus that includes means for storing, communicating, propagating or transferring a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0028] It should be noted that the disclosed embodiments are described with reference to different subject matter. In particular, some embodiments are described with reference to a method, while other embodiments are described with reference to producing an apparatus. However, a person skilled in the art would gather together any combination of features belonging to one type of subject matter, in addition to the above and below descriptions, unless otherwise indicated, and in particular any combination of method features and apparatus and system features and features relating to different subject matters of a computer program product is considered to be disclosed within this document.

[0029] The above defined aspects and further aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the examples of embodiments described in the specification and to which the disclosure is not limited.

[0030] Preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0031] [Figure 1] 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer-implemented method of the invention for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a component useful for the proposed concept. [Diagram 3] 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of an inventive data protection system for providing secure data access services that encrypt data. [Figure 4] An embodiment of a computing system including a system according to FIG. 3 is shown. [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates a cloud computing environment according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates abstraction model layers according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] In the context of this description, the following conventions, terms or descriptions or combinations thereof may be used.

[0033] The term “secure data access service” may refer to a data service proposed herein that accesses or encrypts encrypted data having a data access key DEK that may be wrapped by at least two customer root keys.

[0034] The term "encrypted data" may refer to the known process of encryption of information or data that may be encoded by a key. The key may be a symmetric or asymmetric key. Encrypted data can only be accessed again if the decryption key is known.

[0035] The term "hardware security module" may refer to a physical computing device that can protect and manage digital data access keys. It can also enable and perform encryption and decryption for digital signatures, strong authentication, and other cryptographic functions. Such hardware security modules are typically used in enterprise-class computer systems.

[0036] The term "wrapping structure" may refer to an ordering according to multiple wrapping keys, i.e., data encryption keys, that may be applied to protect data.

[0037] The term "access policy" may refer to the rules according to which data access to certain data may be granted. Often, data access policies reflect organizational requirements. However, it is also possible that special technical rules are defined in an access policy that must be applied to decrypt data in a sequential manner. For example, if multiple customer root keys may be required to decrypt a data encryption key, the access policy may define that the keys must be applied in, for example, ascending or descending (or any other predefined) order of key identifiers or the keys themselves.

[0038] The term "data encryption key" may refer to the digital bit sequence required to encode data, and a data decryption key may refer to the digital bit sequence required to decode the data again.

[0039] The term "wrapped data encryption key" may refer to a data encryption key that may be re-encrypted, or wrapped, by a wrapping key.

[0040] In the following, a detailed description of the drawings is given. All indications in the drawings are schematic. First, a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data is given. Then, an embodiment and further embodiments of a data protection system for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data are described.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a computer-implemented method 100 for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data. The method 100 includes, for example, wrapping 102 a data encryption key, and possibly also a decryption key in the case of asymmetric key pairs, with at least two customer root keys, whereby the at least two customer root keys are assigned to different user identifiers and stored in different hardware security modules. Furthermore, the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys is applied according to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service. One of the access policies may define the order in which the two customer root keys are unwrapped. Alternatively, this unwrapping order may be organized within the secure data access service. Furthermore, an "m out of n" rule may also be defined by the access policy.

[0042] Further, the method 100 includes encrypting 140 the data with the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key. Any known encryption method may be used to secure the data with the data encryption key. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to or adversely affected by the use of the data encryption key in any form.

[0043] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 of an embodiment of useful components. A secure data access service 202 manages access to persistent data 204, which is typically, but not necessarily, encrypted by a data encryption key DEK, which may be a symmetric data access key. The data may be stored as part of the secure data access service or externally. Additionally, the data access service 202 may be implemented directly within a hardware device, such as a storage system. The persistent data may be part of the secure data access service (as shown) or its persistent storage may be managed outside of the secure data access service 202.

[0044] DEK 210 is not unwrapped and stored in secure data access service 202. Thus, in its unwrapped form, it has only ephemeral character. DEK 210 can only be accessed when it is unwrapped using the second of the at least two customer root keys, CRK2. DEK 210 wrapped 208 using customer root key 2 is also available in only ephemeral form within secure data access service 202.

[0045] In particular, a second wrapping layer with the first of at least two customer root keys secures DEK 210 with customer root key 2. Thus, DEK 210 is wrapped twice. However, the customer root keys are not typically made available, even in temporary form, within secure data access service 202. Only the double wrapped DEK 210 is available in the form DEK(w2)(w1) 206.

[0046] The customer root keys CRK1 214 and CRK2 218 are stored independently of each other in hardware security modules or in associated service HSMs svc1 212 and HSM svc2 216, or a combination thereof. When the Secure Data Access Service needs to encrypt or decrypt data, the Secure Data Access Service 202 requests unwrapping operations on the DEK(w2)(w1) 206 and DEK(w2) from the respective HSMs svc1 212 and HSM svc2 216. In cases where more customer root keys are needed, more calls to the respective HSMs are required.

[0047] As a result, and in contrast to existing technology, administrators or operators 222, 226 cannot access persistence data 204 independent of each other. Operator 222 using user ID 220 of admin1 may activate or set customer root key 1, while operator 226 using user ID 224 of admin2 may independently activate or set customer root key 2.

[0048] It may be noted that this implementation shows a basic version, however implementations with more than one customer root key or "m out of n" implementations are possible with many layers of wrapping.

[0049] The flow between the components mentioned above can be summarized as follows: During instantiation of the Secure Data Access Service, the following happens: The Data Service instantiation is initiated with the required access policies for the service as well as the specific Customer Root Key Identifier and the associated HSMs. The Data Service then generates the Data Encryption Keys DEKs that are used for the actual data encryption (and decryption in case of symmetric keys). Thereby, for each combination, the Secure Data Access Service defines the order of the CRKs to be used for wrapping. For example, this may be done in ascending order of key-ID. However, any other rules may be applied for the wrapping / dewrapping order. The Secure Data Access Service then queries the HSMs associated in the combination for the Data Encryption Keys DEKs to wrap or unwrap sequentially, step by step, i.e., wrapping the wrapped DEKs.

[0050] During the use of the Data Access Service, the following happens: If an unwrapped, i.e. temporary, DEK is not available, e.g. because it has expired, the Secure Data Access Service selects an order that satisfies the access policy (e.g., in a 3 out of 5 scenario, try 1-2-3), the Secure Data Access Service selects multiple wrapped DEKs and unwraps them in a given order (e.g., by ascending or descending key-ID order). If one of the HSMs refuses to support the Data Service, e.g., in case the key is suspended or revoked, the Secure Data Access Service starts over using the next valid combination (e.g., if unwrapping with 2 fails, the start over is 1-3-4). Finally, the unwrapped (i.e. temporary) DEK is used for the data access operation.

[0051] 3 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a data protection system 300 that provides a secure data access service for encrypting data. The data protection system 300 (or, in short, the system 300) includes a processor 302 and a memory 304 communicatively coupled to the processor 302, the memory 304 storing program code portions that, when executed, enable the processor 302, in particular by a wrapping module 306 of the secure data access service module 310, to wrap a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, whereby the at least two customer root keys are assigned to different user identifiers, and the at least two customer root keys are stored in different hardware security modules. Furthermore, the wrapping structures for the at least two customer root keys are applied according to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service.

[0052] In addition, the processor 302 is enabled to encrypt data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key, particularly by the encryption unit of the secure data access service module 310 (see FIG. 2 202).

[0053] It should be understood that all the functional units, modules and blocks, in particular the processor 302, the memory 304, the secure data access service module 310, as well as the wrapping module 306 and the encryption unit 308, may be communicatively coupled to each other for the exchange of signals or messages in a selected one-to-one manner. Alternatively, the functional units, modules and blocks may be linked to a system internal bus system 312 for the exchange of selective signals or messages.

[0054] The disclosed embodiments may be implemented in conjunction with virtually any type of computer, regardless of the platform suitable for storing and / or executing the program code. Figure 4 illustrates, by way of example, a computer system 400 suitable for executing program code associated with the proposed method.

[0055] Computing system 400 is merely one example of a suitable computing system and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the embodiments of the invention described herein, nevertheless computing system 400 is capable of implementing and / or performing any of the functionality described above. Computing system 400 includes components that are operable with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, or configurations, or combinations thereof that may be suitable for use with computer system / server 400 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable appliances, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like. The computer system / server 400 may be described in the general context of computer system executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by the computer system 400. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer system / server 400 may be implemented in a distributed cloud computing environment where tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media, including memory storage devices.

[0056] As shown in the drawing, computer system / server 400 is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Components of computer system / server 400 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 402, a system memory 404, and a bus 406 that couples various system components, including the system memory 404, to the processor 402. Bus 406 represents any one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a high-speed graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example and not limitation, such architectures include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. Computer system / server 400 typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer system / server 400 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media.

[0057] The system memory 404 may include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 408 and / or cache memory 410. The computer system / server 400 may further include other removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of example only, a storage system 412 may be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable non-volatile magnetic medium (not shown, and typically referred to as a "hard drive"). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive may be provided for reading from and writing to a removable non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a "floppy disk"), and an optical disk drive may be provided for reading from or writing to a removable non-volatile optical disk, such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media. In such instances, each may be connected to the bus 406 by one or more data media interfaces. As further illustrated and described below, memory 404 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modules configured to perform functions of embodiments of the present invention.

[0058] A program / utility having a set (at least one) of program modules 416 may be stored in memory 404, as well as, by way of example and not limitation, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, or any combination thereof, may include implementing a networking environment. The program modules 416 generally perform the functions and / or methodologies of embodiments of the present invention described herein.

[0059] The computer system / server 400 may also communicate with one or more external devices 418, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 420, one or more devices that allow a user to interact with the computer system / server 400, or any device that allows the computer system / server 400 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., a network card, a modem, etc.), or a combination thereof. Such communication may occur through an input / output (I / O) interface 414. Additionally, the computer system / server 400 may communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), or a public network (e.g., the Internet), or a combination thereof, through a network adapter 422. As shown, the network adapter 422 may communicate with other components of the computer system / server 12 through a bus 406. Although not shown, it should be understood that other hardware and / or software components may be used in conjunction with the computer system / server 400. Examples include, but are not limited to, microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archive storage systems.

[0060] In addition, a data protection system 300 providing a secure data access service that encrypts data may be attached to the bus system 406 .

[0061] The description of various embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for illustrative purposes, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terms used in this specification have been selected to best explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications or technical improvements found in the market, or to enable other skilled in the art to understand the embodiments shown in this specification.

[0062] The present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product, or combination thereof. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon that cause a processor to perform aspects of the present invention.

[0063] The medium may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system for a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium may include a semiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read / write (CD-R / W), DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk.

[0064] The computer readable storage medium may be any tangible device capable of holding and storing instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of computer readable storage media includes portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), static random access memory (SRAM), portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD), memory stick, floppy disk, mechanically encoded devices such as punch cards or raised structures in grooves having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination thereof. As used herein, a computer-readable storage medium should not be construed as being, itself, a ephemeral signal, such as an electric wave or other freely propagating electromagnetic wave, or an electromagnetic wave propagating in a waveguide or other transmission body (e.g., light pulses traveling in a fiber optic cable), or an electrical signal transmitted through an electrical wire.

[0065] The computer readable program instructions described herein may be downloaded from a computer readable storage medium into each corresponding computing / processing device, or may be downloaded to an external computer or storage device over a network, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or a wireless network, or a combination thereof. The network may include copper transmission cables, optical transmission fiber, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, or edge servers, or a combination thereof. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives the computer readable program instructions from the network and transfers the computer readable program instructions to a computer readable storage medium in each corresponding computing / processing device for storage.

[0066] The computer readable program instructions for carrying out the operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or may be source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk, C++, and traditional procedural programming languages ​​such as the C programming language or the like. The computer readable program instructions may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the last scenario above, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, a programmable logic circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a programmable logic array (PLA), may execute the computer readable program instructions to carry out aspects of the invention by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry.

[0067] Aspects of the invention described herein have been described with reference to flowchart instructions and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that any combination of flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams and blocks in flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

[0068] The computer readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, which when executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generates means for implementing the functions / operations specified in the block or blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams, or a combination thereof. These computer readable program instructions that direct the computer, programmable data processing device, and other devices, or combinations thereof, to function in a particular manner can also be stored on a computer readable recording medium, such that the computer readable recording medium having instructions stored therein constitutes an article of manufacture containing instructions that implement the functional / operational features specified in the block or blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams, or a combination thereof.

[0069] The computer readable program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device and cause a computer-implemented process to execute a series of operational steps on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to implement the functions / acts specified in a block or blocks of the flowcharts and block diagrams, or a combination thereof, on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device.

[0070] The flowcharts and / or block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block of the flowchart or block diagram represents a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which includes one or more executable instructions for implementing a particular logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions described in the blocks may occur out of the order described in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may be executed substantially simultaneously, depending on the functionality involved, or the blocks may be executed in reverse order at times. It should also be noted that each of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations and combinations thereof may be implemented by a system based on special purpose hardware that performs a particular function or operation and / or executes specific purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0071] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe particular embodiments, and they are not intended to limit the invention. Unless otherwise clear from the context, when used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms. When used herein, the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements or components, or combinations thereof, but are understood not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof, or combinations thereof.

[0072] Corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or steps and functional elements recited in the claims are intended to include any structures, materials, or acts for performing functions in conjunction with other claim elements recited in the claims. While the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, it is not intended that the description be exhaustive or that the disclosure be limited to the disclosed form. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The embodiments have been selected and described in order to best explain the principles and practical applications of the disclosure, and to enable those skilled in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications suitable for the particular use contemplated. A summary is provided below. 1. A computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data, comprising: wrapping the data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforming to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service; encrypting the data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key; A method comprising: 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of at least two customer root keys for wrapping the data encryption key. 3. The method according to item 1 or 2, wherein the secure data access service stores only the wrapped data encryption key. 4. The method according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein the different hardware security modules are physically different hardware security modules, virtually different hardware security modules, or a combination thereof. 5. At least two customer root keys are n customer root keys out of m customer root keys, and m <nである、項目1~4のいずれか1つに記載の方法。6. The method of any one of items 1 to 5, wherein at least two customer root keys are symmetric encryption / decryption keys. 7. The method of any one of items 1 to 6, wherein at least two customer root keys are different. 8. The method according to any one of items 1 to 7, wherein the data encryption key is a symmetric or asymmetric key. 9. The method according to any one of items 1 to 8, wherein the data encryption key is only valid for a limited time window. 10. The method of any one of items 1 to 9, wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of at least two customer root keys for unwrapping the data encryption key. 11. The method of any one of items 1 to 10, wherein the unwrapped data encryption key is passed from the security service to another data access function for final data access. 12. A data protection system for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data, the data protection system including a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory, when executed, causing the processor to: wrapping the data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforming to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service; encrypting the data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key; Storing parts of program code that enable the data protection system. 13. The data protection system of item 12, wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of the at least two customer root keys for wrapping the data encryption key. 14. The data protection system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the secure data access service stores only the wrapped data encryption key. 15. A data protection system according to any one of items 12 to 14, wherein the different hardware security modules are physically distinct hardware security modules, virtually distinct hardware security modules, or a combination thereof. 16. At least two customer root keys are n customer root keys out of m customer root keys, and m <nである、項目12~15のいずれか1つに記載のデータ保護システム。17. The data protection system of any one of items 12 to 16, wherein at least two customer root keys are symmetric encryption / decryption keys. 18. The data protection system of any one of items 12 to 17, wherein at least two customer root keys are different. 19. The data protection system of any one of items 12 to 18, wherein the data encryption key is valid only for a limited time window. 20. A computer program product for a data protection system, the computer program product including a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied thereon, the program instructions being executable by one or more computing systems or controllers, the one or more computing systems being configured to: wrapping the data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforming to an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service; encrypting the data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key; (a) a computer program product that causes

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data, comprising: encrypting and wrapping a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforming to an access policy that defines what assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service; encrypting data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key by requesting an unwrapping operation on the wrapping structure from each of the hardware security modules that separately stores the customer root key; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of the at least two customer root keys for wrapping the data encryption key.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secure data access service stores only the wrapped data encryption key.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the different hardware security modules are physically different hardware security modules, virtually different hardware security modules, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two customer root keys are n customer root keys out of m customer root keys, where m<n.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two customer root keys are symmetric encryption / decryption keys.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two customer root keys are different.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data encryption key is a symmetric or asymmetric key.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data encryption key is valid only for a limited window of time.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of the at least two customer root keys for unwrapping the data encryption key.

11. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the unwrapped data encryption key is passed from a security service to another data access function for ultimate data access.

12. 1. A data protection system for providing a secure data access service that encrypts data, the data protection system including a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory, when executed, causing the processor to: encrypting and wrapping a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys conforming to an access policy that defines what assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by the secure data access service; encrypting data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key by requesting an unwrapping operation on the wrapping structure from each of the hardware security modules that separately stores the customer root key; A data protection system storing program code portions enabling the

13. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the wrapping structure defines an order of application of the at least two customer root keys for wrapping the data encryption key.

14. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the secure data access service stores only the wrapped data encryption key.

15. The data protection system of claim 12 , wherein the different hardware security modules are physically different hardware security modules, virtually different hardware security modules, or a combination thereof.

16. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the at least two customer root keys are n customer root keys out of m customer root keys, where m<n.

17. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the at least two customer root keys are symmetric encryption / decryption keys.

18. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the at least two customer root keys are different.

19. 13. The data protection system of claim 12, wherein the data encryption key is valid only for a limited window of time.

20. A computer program for a data protection system, the computer program comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied on the data protection system, the program instructions being executable by one or more computing systems or controllers, the one or more computing systems being configured to: encrypting and wrapping a data encryption key with at least two customer root keys, the at least two customer root keys being assigned to different user identifiers, the at least two customer root keys being stored in different hardware security modules, and the wrapping structure for the at least two customer root keys being in accordance with an access policy that defines what the assigned user identifiers must agree to in order to enable data access to the encrypted data by a secure data access service; encrypting data by the secure data access service using the unwrapped data encryption key by requesting an unwrapping operation on the wrapping structure from each of the hardware security modules that separately stores the customer root key; A computer program that causes

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