API Abstraction Layer for Secure Shared Repository Data Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
The use of shared data repositories in cloud computing systems, where different APIs issue commands for data in varying formats, poses a security and privacy risk, particularly with sensitive data like PII, as conventional methods may inadvertently share unauthorized data.
Innovation Solution
An abstraction layer (Logical Entity Layer, LEL) interprets API requests to determine the necessary data to be returned, generating substitute requests that exclude unrequested data, thereby preventing unauthorized data transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a shared data repository sends composite field sets to all requesting APIs to ensure necessary data is provided, then data completeness for all APIs is improved, but security and privacy risks increase due to inadvertent sharing of sensitive data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (data repository with filtering capability) that sits between the data storage and multiple APIs. This intermediary actively filters and selectively transmits only the specific data fields requested by each API, preventing unauthorized data exposure while ensuring complete data delivery for authorized requests. The intermediary interprets API-specific data requirements and generates customized responses without exposing unnecessary sensitive information.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different APIs request data in varying formats from the shared data repository, then adaptability to different API requirements is improved, but system complexity increases due to need for multiple data formats
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically modifying data transmission parameters based on API requirements. The system maintains a standardized internal data structure in the shared repository and transforms data into different formats only during the transmission phase to each specific API. This approach allows the system to adapt to various API formats without creating multiple permanent data storage structures, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining versatility.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the shared data repository filters and selects appropriate information for each API request, then security and privacy are improved, but data retrieval time and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-organizing data in the shared repository according to the specific requirements of different APIs. Data is structured and tagged in advance with metadata that indicates which fields are sensitive, which APIs require them, and what formats are needed. This pre-processing allows the repository to quickly retrieve and filter the exact required data without performing complex filtering operations in real-time, thus maintaining security while minimizing data retrieval time.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods that use an abstraction layer (e.g., a logical entity layer) that reinterprets API requests in order to prevent unrequested and/or unauthorized data to be served in an API request. The abstraction layer accomplishes this by determining a characteristic of the composite field set that is to be returned based on a request from an API for a first field set. The system may then determine an API request mapping. For example, the API request mapping may describe how the request from the specific API (and/or for the first field set) maps to the data in the shared data repository (or a composite field set that is to be returned in response to the API request).