Elastic Storage WORM Data Retention via Trusted Third Party
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Solution Overview
Problem
Legal entities in the finance industry face challenges in maintaining and storing documents and data for compliance with regulations like SEC Rule 17a-4, which requires non-rewriteable and non-erasable storage of records for extended periods, posing a burden in terms of cost and accessibility.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system for regulatory records retention that uses an elastic cloud-based storage system, ensuring data is stored in a non-rewriteable and non-erasable format through encryption and secure authentication, allowing access only with authorized access requests and permitting deletion or modification by a trusted third party, thus adhering to regulatory requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is stored in a non-rewriteable and non-erasable format to comply with SEC Rule 17a-4, then data integrity and security are improved, but accessibility and ease of modification are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trusted third party as an intermediary that holds the master decryption key. This mediator enables authorized access to WORM-stored data without compromising the non-rewriteable nature of the storage medium. The third party can facilitate data retrieval and authorized modifications while maintaining the integrity constraints of the WORM format.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments data storage into multiple WORM media units (optical disks, tape segments) that can be individually managed and retrieved. This segmentation allows selective access to specific data portions without requiring access to the entire storage system, improving accessibility while maintaining data integrity through the WORM properties of each segment.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If data is retained for extended periods to meet regulatory requirements, then compliance is improved, but storage costs and data management complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated retention management where WORM-stored data is automatically maintained for the required retention period without manual intervention. The trusted third party system automatically manages key custody and data availability, reducing the operational complexity of long-term retention while ensuring continuous compliance with regulatory requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates and maintains copies of data across multiple WORM storage media and locations. This copying strategy ensures data availability for extended retention periods while distributing the management burden across multiple independent storage units, reducing the complexity of managing single-point-of-failure long-term storage systems.
3Reliability
If WORM capabilities are implemented to prevent deletion or modification, then regulatory compliance is improved, but flexibility and adaptability are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically manages data accessibility through the trusted third party key custody mechanism. While the underlying WORM storage provides static, unchangeable data preservation, the system layer above dynamically enables or disables access based on authorized requests and current retention requirements, providing flexibility without compromising the immutable WORM foundation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the storage medium itself flexible and reversible, the patent inverts the approach by using rigid, non-rewritable WORM media combined with a flexible key management system. The immutability of the storage medium is paired with the flexibility of cryptographic key control, allowing authorized access and management operations while maintaining the core WORM compliance properties.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing system provisions a client account for a user to enable a client computer associated with the user to store information in an elastic storage system and to prohibit the client computer, the information processing system, and the elastic storage system from altering and from deleting the stored information during an authorized retention period. Data messages are received from one or more client computers and include information that is required to be stored for the authorized retention period. That information is transmitted via one or more data communications networks to the elastic storage system for storage so that the stored information is non-rewriteable and non-erasable during the authorized retention period. The secure data center receives the retrieved copy and provides it to the user device. The elastic storage system permits deletion, modification, or destruction of the stored information only when a trusted independent third party having predetermined authentication information associated with the client account provides the predetermined authentication information to the elastic storage system.