On-Demand Secure Folder Mounting for Tenant Data Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-tenant/multi-user environments, sensitive information is exposed to insiders due to the common practice of storing encryption keys in databases, allowing unauthorized access to tenant data.
Innovation Solution
A unique encryption key is generated for each tenant, protected using AES-256 and PBKDF-2, and secure folders are created, mounted only on-demand with encrypted/decrypted operations, ensuring that sensitive information is not visible in the file system without the encryption key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If encryption keys are stored in the database, then access to sensitive information is facilitated, but security is compromised due to insider threats and unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the encryption key from the database storage system and places it in the operating system's keychain. This separation ensures that even if the database is compromised, the encryption key remains protected outside the database, preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information while maintaining ease of access through the keychain interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces the operating system's keychain as an intermediary between the application and the encryption key. The keychain acts as a secure mediator that manages key storage, retrieval, and protection, allowing applications to access encrypted data without directly handling sensitive keys, thus balancing accessibility with security.
2Device complexity
If a single encryption key is used for all tenants, then system complexity is reduced, but security is weakened due to potential exposure of all tenant data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the encryption key management system by creating a unique keychain for each tenant. This segmentation ensures that each tenant's data is encrypted with a distinct key, so that compromise of one tenant's credentials does not expose other tenants' data, maintaining security while managing complexity through systematic key organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different security properties to different tenants through individual keychains. Each tenant receives customized key management with unique cryptographic credentials, allowing the system to maintain uniform architecture while providing differentiated security protection for each tenant's sensitive information.
3Speed
If encryption keys are stored in clear form, then processing speed is improved, but security is compromised as keys become vulnerable to unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-establishing secure keychains in the operating system before applications need to access encrypted data. The keychains are prepared with appropriate permissions and cryptographic configurations in advance, allowing fast key retrieval and decryption operations without requiring real-time key generation or complex security checks, thus maintaining both speed and security.
Data Source
AI summary
Exposure of sensitive tenant information is minimized in a multi-tenant/multi-user environment. A unique encryption key is provided for each tenant. The tenant encryption key is never stored in the clear and each copy of the tenant encryption key is protected by a user derived password. A secure folder is created for each tenant and encrypted by the tenant encryption key. Secure folders are mounted only on-demand, i.e. when an authenticated request is received for that tenant. The secure folders are mounted only for specific durations only. Otherwise, they are un-mounted. When a secure folder is mounted, any read/write operation to the secure folder is encrypted/decrypted on-the-fly. When the secure folder is un-mounted, all file contents in the secure folder, and the secure folder itself, are not visible in the file system and no application can browse to the secure folder without the tenant encryption key.