Dynamic Cryptographic Key Management for Cached Data Compromise
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current data storage systems face complexity in managing cryptographic key compromise situations, particularly in cache layers, where extensive sweep and convert operations are required to re-encrypt data, leading to processing overhead and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic and agnostic cryptographic key management system that abstracts key management from the cache layer, using a key table and encryption headers to manage key rotations and compromises without requiring extensive sweep and convert operations, leveraging SSD memory's transient nature for efficient eviction and re-encryption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cache layer manages all cryptographic artefacts and key management needed to secure cached data, then data security is improved, but processing overhead and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
A dedicated cryptographic key management module is introduced as an intermediary between the cache layer and key management operations. This module handles all cryptographic artefacts and key management tasks, allowing the cache layer to focus on data caching while maintaining security. The intermediary module manages key rotation, compromise detection, and re-encryption workflows without requiring the cache layer to understand cryptographic intricacies.
Solution Approach 2:
Key management responsibilities are extracted from the cache layer and placed in a separate cryptographic key management module. This extraction removes the burden of managing cryptographic artefacts from the cache layer, reducing its complexity while maintaining data security through dedicated key management functionality.
2Reliability
If the entire data set is scanned to find data dependent on a compromised key, then security is improved by ensuring all dependencies are handled, but productivity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
Data is pre-tagged with cryptographic metadata including key identifiers and dependency information during the initial encryption process. This preliminary action creates an index structure that allows the key management module to quickly locate all data dependent on a compromised key without scanning the entire data set, significantly improving key rotation efficiency while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The data set is segmented and organized by cryptographic key dependencies using metadata tags. This segmentation allows the system to efficiently identify and process only the relevant data segments associated with a compromised key rather than scanning all data, improving productivity during key rotation operations.
3Reliability
If cached data is re-encrypted with a new key after compromise detection, then security is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of re-encrypting the entire cached data set when a key compromise is detected, the system performs partial re-encryption only on the specific data segments that were encrypted with the compromised key. This selective approach, enabled by the metadata indexing system, maintains security by re-encrypting affected data while minimizing processing overhead by leaving unaffected data unchanged.
4Reliability
If the cache layer is made aware of key-state transitions and compromised key workflows, then cache data management security is improved, but ease of operation and device complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The cryptographic key management module serves as an intermediary that absorbs the complexity of key-state transitions and compromised key workflows. The cache layer interacts with this intermediary through simplified interfaces, maintaining security without requiring direct awareness or handling of complex cryptographic workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
The cryptographic key management module autonomously handles key-state transitions, compromise detection, and re-encryption workflows without requiring the cache layer to understand or manage these processes. The system self-services the key management aspects while the cache layer continues its primary function of data caching with operational simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of a cryptographic key management system for cached data that efficiently re-encrypts cached data encrypted with a compromised encryption key by receiving a request to access a cached data block encrypted with an original encryption key. Upon determining that the original encryption key is compromised or destroyed, thus resulting in the requested data block being invalid, evicting the requested data block from the cache storing the cached data. The data block is re-encrypted using a new encryption key upon receipt of a new request to access the cached data. Any remaining cached data encrypted with the original encryption key is evicted from the cache through a defined cache eviction policy.