Access Controlled Queries for Datastore Security and Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
In cloud computing systems, infrastructure maintenance users face challenges in accessing customer data for troubleshooting and maintenance due to restricted access, which impedes activities such as performance issue resolution and data corruption debugging.
Innovation Solution
Implementing access-controlled queries in a datastore that allow business users to grant permissions to non-business users, enabling them to execute queries against specific objects and attributes while ensuring data security through dynamic access control entries and mappings between business objects and low-level database objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If access is restricted to customer data in cloud computing systems, then data security and confidentiality are improved, but infrastructure maintenance users face difficulties in troubleshooting and maintenance activities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments access permissions by creating distinct access control entries for different users and data objects. Business users can grant specific permissions (read, write, delete) to non-business users for specific data objects, allowing fine-grained control that simultaneously maintains security and enables maintenance access when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary access control mechanism that mediates between business users (data owners) and non-business users (maintenance users). The system automatically generates access control entries that act as intermediaries, allowing maintenance users to access data only when explicitly permitted by business users, thus resolving the contradiction between security and maintenance access.
2Ease of operation
If infrastructure maintenance users are given broad access to customer data, then troubleshooting and maintenance activities are facilitated, but data security and customer confidentiality are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different access permissions for different data objects and different non-business users. Instead of uniform broad access, each business user can grant specific permissions (read-only, read-write, delete) to specific non-business users for specific data objects, minimizing security risks while enabling necessary maintenance access.
Solution Approach 2:
The access control system is dynamic, allowing business users to grant, modify, or revoke permissions at any time. Non-business users receive access only when explicitly permitted through the tagging mechanism, and the system automatically updates access control entries to reflect current permissions, ensuring security is maintained while enabling maintenance when needed.
3Productivity
If automatic access control entry generation is implemented, then maintenance user access is streamlined, but system complexity increases due to mapping requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining data object mappings between the business user view and the underlying data storage structure. When a business user tags a data object as readable or writable, the system automatically generates the corresponding access control entries based on these pre-established mappings, streamlining the access granting process while managing complexity through automation.
Data Source
AI summary
In an example, a processing device of a datastore system may be configured to identify one or more grants of permission corresponding to one or more first objects, respectively, wherein the one or more first objects comprise only a subset of objects of a datastore, wherein the one or more grants of permission are by a user of the datastore; generate an access control entry for a second object of the objects using at least one of the identified grants of permission, wherein the second object is not exposed to the user; and in responsive to receipt of a query for data corresponding to the objects, determine whether to grant access to the data based on the generated access control entry.