Secure Event Recording and Processing via Identity-Linked Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current event logging technologies face security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues among different services, and lack of standardized taxonomies, which compromise the integrity and security of transactional event recording and processing.
Innovation Solution
A method for secure event recording and processing involves identifying events produced by applications, obtaining application identities through an identity service, and generating secure packages that include metadata for encryption, authentication, and context information, ensuring secure encapsulation and processing of events across networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If detailed event information is captured in logs, then auditing and reporting capabilities are improved, but security vulnerabilities increase as intruders can obtain information to penetrate bank accounts or identify attackable resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential event information needed for auditing and reporting purposes, removing detailed sensitive data from logs. This selective extraction maintains the usefulness of event logs for security monitoring while eliminating the security vulnerability of exposing sensitive information that could be exploited by intruders.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different logging quality levels to different event types. Sensitive events undergo stricter filtering and anonymization, while non-sensitive events retain more detail. This local differentiation ensures that security-critical information is protected while maintaining adequate audit capability for less sensitive operations.
2Ease of operation
If event logs are made easily accessible for debugging and problem resolution, then ease of operation is improved, but security practices are compromised as logs become vulnerable to manipulation and unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary security layer between log storage and access. This intermediary enforces authentication, authorization, and integrity verification, allowing legitimate debugging access while preventing unauthorized manipulation. The intermediary acts as a gatekeeper that maintains both accessibility for authorized users and security against unauthorized access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary security measures including digital signatures, hashing, and access control policies before logs are accessed or manipulated. These pre-established security mechanisms ensure that even when logs are accessible for debugging, their integrity is protected and unauthorized changes are prevented through advance security configurations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different services use their own proprietary logging formats and taxonomies, then service-specific functionality is improved, but compatibility among interacting services deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the logging system into standardized core components and service-specific extensions. A common standardized event format and taxonomy provide the foundation for compatibility, while allowing services to add proprietary fields and custom taxonomies as extensions. This segmentation enables both universal interoperability and service-specific functionality without requiring full customization across the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal logging framework that can handle multiple service-specific formats through a common interface. The standardized event structure and taxonomy serve as a universal language that different services can speak, enabling compatibility among interacting services while still allowing each service to maintain its own logging capabilities through the standardized framework.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for secure event recording and processing are provided. An application produces an event. The identity of the application is associated with the event, and the event and identity information are packaged in a secure environment as a secure event package. Subsequent consuming applications: receive the secure event package; validate the identity information; and acquire other metadata for processing the event, which is included within the secure event package.