Database Index Segmentation for Secure Data Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Database systems face security vulnerabilities due to indexes being an additional source of intrusion or unauthorized access, particularly in sensitive data systems like medical records, where frequency analysis can infer content even with encryption.
Innovation Solution
A method for accessing a database using a relation that modifies and distributes referential connections of data items to prevent frequency analysis, maintaining secure access by rearranging the structure of indexes and using a traversal method to insert and retrieve data items while maintaining their sorting order.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If indexes are used to improve data retrieval speed, then access speed is improved, but security is worsened due to additional intrusion sources and unauthorized access risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the index structure by replacing each original index entry with multiple modified data items (M items) that are distributed across different positions in the sorted relation. This segmentation prevents any single point of intrusion while maintaining collective access functionality, directly addressing the security vulnerability of traditional indexes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces modified data items as intermediaries between the original index and the data retrieval process. These modified items act as a protective layer that preserves retrieval speed while preventing direct access to sensitive index structures, thereby resolving the contradiction between speed and security.
2Reliability
If encryption is applied to protect sensitive data, then security is improved, but frequency analysis vulnerability is worsened as encrypted data can still be analyzed for content inference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by ensuring that each modified data item in the sorted relation has unique properties (through modification functions) that prevent frequency analysis. While the overall structure maintains sorted order for efficiency, local modifications at each position eliminate patterns that could be exploited through frequency analysis, thus protecting encrypted data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of index entries by applying modification functions that transform original data items into modified versions. These parameter changes (modifications) preserve the sorted order property while altering the actual values to prevent frequency analysis, directly countering the vulnerability of encrypted data to such attacks.
3Reliability
If multiple modified data items are inserted to replace single index entries, then security is improved through distribution, but device complexity is worsened due to additional data items and maintenance overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a system where modified data items serve multiple functions simultaneously: they maintain sorted order for efficient retrieval, provide security through distribution and modification, and enable frequency analysis resistance. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate security mechanisms, thereby managing complexity while improving security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates equipotentiality by ensuring that all modified data items within a group have equal status in terms of their modified values and positions in the sorted relation. This uniform treatment simplifies the maintenance and management of the complex structure, as all items follow the same modification and positioning rules, reducing operational complexity despite increased structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a method for accessing a database stored on a server using a relation. The server is coupled to a client computer via a network, wherein the relation comprises first data items, the first data items forming a partially ordered set in the first relation, wherein for each first data item a referential connection exists in the database assigning said first data item to at least one second data item of the database. The method comprises: identifying first data items of the relation referencing N second data items; for each identified first data item modifying, using a same modification method, the identified first data item M times, wherein M≤N, for obtaining M unique modified data items; associating with each of modified first data items of a given first data item a respective portion of the N referential connections of the given first data item; inserting the modified first data items in the relation, thereby replacing the identified first data items.