Memory Access Tracking Agents for In-Memory Data Auditing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed computing environments, particularly in cloud-based services, there is a challenge in detecting and auditing accesses to sensitive data while maintaining high performance, as existing security protocols focus on data transmission but not on in-memory data access within multiple service components.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a memory access tracking system that deploys low-overhead agents at access sources to monitor and report on in-memory data structure accesses, providing context information without impacting performance, and using machine learning to identify target data structures and sources of access requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If memory access tracking agents are deployed to monitor in-memory data structure accesses, then security auditing capability is improved, but system performance degradation occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the memory monitoring function by deploying separate tracking agents that operate independently from the main application logic. These agents monitor memory accesses without interfering with the primary application execution flow, allowing security auditing to be conducted in parallel without blocking business operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces memory access tracking agents as intermediary components between the application and the monitoring system. These agents act as mediators that capture memory access events and transmit them to the analysis system, creating a buffer layer that prevents direct interference with application performance while maintaining comprehensive security monitoring.
2Measurement precision
If detailed context information is collected for memory accesses, then auditing precision is improved, but data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential context information needed for security auditing from the full memory access trace. By identifying and collecting only the critical attributes (such as memory address, access type, timestamp, and calling context), the system reduces data processing complexity while maintaining sufficient precision for effective security analysis and compliance auditing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial collection of context information, gathering only the necessary details for security auditing purposes rather than all possible memory access metadata. This selective approach provides sufficient auditing precision while significantly reducing the complexity of data processing and storage requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A memory access tracking agent detects an access request directed to an in-memory representation of a target data structure. The agent obtains run-time context information pertaining to the request, including thread stack information. Indications of the occurrence of the access request and the context information are provided to a destination.