Serverless Workflow Validation With Encrypted Policy Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing serverless cloud systems face security and privacy issues due to insecure storage of policy-related information, and they cannot effectively prevent attacks at intermediate function calls in workflows.
Innovation Solution
A two-level validation system is implemented, where first-level validation occurs at the point of ingress and second-level validation happens at critical intermediate function calls, using encrypted access policies stored in authenticated data structures to ensure privacy and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If policy information is stored in an insecure manner for workflow validation, then validation functionality is achieved, but security and privacy are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts policy information from unencrypted storage and places it into authenticated data structures (such as Bloom filters) that provide cryptographic verification. This separation removes the vulnerable policy data from insecure storage while maintaining validation functionality through the authenticated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces authenticated data structures as an intermediary between policy information and validation operations. These structures act as a secure mediator that enables workflow validation without exposing raw policy data, thus achieving both functionality and security.
2Reliability
If end-to-end workflow validation is performed before function execution, then overall workflow security is checked, but attacks at intermediate function calls cannot be prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the workflow validation process into multiple stages: initial validation before function execution, and subsequent validation at intermediate function calls. This segmentation allows security checks to be distributed throughout the workflow execution rather than concentrated at a single point, enabling detection and prevention of intermediate attacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary validation at the point of ingress before function execution begins, establishing an initial security checkpoint. This preliminary action creates a foundation for subsequent validation at intermediate points, allowing the system to prevent attacks before they can compromise the workflow.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple validation levels are implemented at intermediate function calls, then security against intermediate attacks is improved, but performance overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary policy information into authenticated data structures that enable rapid verification. By taking out only the essential validation data and storing it in efficient structures like Bloom filters, the system achieves strong security without the performance penalty of storing or processing complete policy sets at each validation point.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates compact cryptographic copies of policy information in authenticated data structures. These copies contain sufficient information for validation but are much smaller and faster to process than the original policy data, enabling multiple validation levels with reduced performance overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
State of the art approaches used to address security aspects in serverless platforms perform workflow validations on an end to end flow, however, this cannot prevent attacks targeted at intermediate function calls in the workflow. Further, the existing systems store policy data in insecure manner, which causes security issues. The disclosure herein generally relates to serverless clouds, and, more particularly, to a method and system for privacy-preserving workflow validations in serverless clouds. The system stores policy data in a secured/encrypted manner. The system also performs validations at different levels, at a first level to allow/deny access at an ingress point, and at a second level to allow/deny access at critical intermediate points. This approach thus provides safety against attacks that may have been initiated post initial validation, and offers added data security.