API Gateway Metadata Encryption for Confidentiality
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large-scale computing environments, metadata associated with computing resources is often exposed and unprotected, posing a risk to confidential information even when access permissions are strictly managed.
Innovation Solution
An API gateway intercepts requests for computing resources, encrypts metadata using a key management service, and generates a new request with encrypted metadata to ensure that metadata remains secure and incomprehensible to users accessing the resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If metadata is made visible and accessible to users accessing computing resources, then ease of operation and information availability are improved, but security and confidentiality of sensitive information are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments metadata into different categories based on sensitivity levels. Sensitive metadata is encrypted and separated from non-sensitive metadata that can be freely accessed. This segmentation allows the system to provide easy access to necessary information while protecting confidential data through encryption, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary encryption layer between the metadata and users. Instead of direct access to plaintext metadata, users interact with encrypted metadata through controlled interfaces. The decryption and display of sensitive metadata is mediated through security protocols and authorization mechanisms, allowing ease of operation for authorized users while preventing unauthorized access to confidential information.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If encryption is applied to metadata to protect confidentiality, then security is improved, but device complexity and processing overhead are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal encryption framework that handles multiple types of metadata with different sensitivity levels through a single, integrated system. Rather than creating separate encryption mechanisms for different metadata types, the system uses a multi-functional encryption approach that can encrypt, decrypt, and manage various metadata categories uniformly. This reduces overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive security protection.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If all metadata is encrypted to ensure maximum security, then confidentiality is improved, but loss of information and usability are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating encryption requirements across different portions of metadata. Instead of uniformly encrypting all metadata, the system applies encryption selectively to sensitive portions while leaving non-sensitive metadata in plaintext or lightly protected. This localized approach ensures confidentiality for sensitive information while maintaining full accessibility and usability of non-sensitive information, preventing information loss.
Data Source
AI summary
A system intercepts, at an application programming interface (API) gateway, a request for access to a computing resource and obfuscates metadata associated with the request. The metadata is obfuscated by at least encrypting the metadata to generate encrypted metadata. The API gateway further generates a second request to include the encrypted metadata. The second request is then used to access the computing resource in response to the first request such that when the computing resource is accessed, the metadata associated with the computing resource is encrypted.