Source-Code Secret Concealment With Variable Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems lack effective methods to protect sensitive information stored in source codes from unauthorized access and leakage, particularly in decentralized environments like blockchain networks, where data security and privacy are crucial.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method to replace sensitive information in source codes with dummy values, using a mapping system to store and manage these dummy values in a decentralized database, ensuring that only authorized entities can access the original secrets through a blockchain-based consensus mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If secrets are stored directly in source code for easy access, then ease of operation is improved, but data security deteriorates due to unauthorized access and leakage risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts secrets from the source code by replacing them with dummy values. The original secrets are removed from the codebase and stored separately in a data store, while the source code contains only placeholder references. This extraction eliminates the security vulnerability of storing secrets directly in code while maintaining accessibility through the mapping mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mapping system as an intermediary between the source code and the actual secrets. The mapping stores dummy values that reference the real secrets, acting as a mediator that enables access control and security management. This intermediary layer prevents direct exposure of secrets in the codebase while allowing authorized access through the mapping mechanism.
2Reliability
If dummy values replace secrets in source code to enhance security, then data security is improved, but device complexity increases due to mapping systems and data stores
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the secret management system into distinct components: dummy values embedded in source code, a separate mapping data structure storing the correspondence between dummy values and real secrets, and a data store holding the actual secrets. This segmentation distributes complexity across multiple manageable elements rather than concentrating it in a single complex mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dummy values as simplified copies or placeholders that replicate the structure and position of real secrets in the source code without containing the actual sensitive data. These dummy copies maintain code functionality while eliminating security risks, reducing the complexity burden on the overall system.
3Loss of information
If secrets are concealed using dummy values and mapping, then loss of information is reduced through better security, but difficulty of detecting and measuring increases due to obscured data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the mapping system provides structured information about the correspondence between dummy values and real secrets. This feedback enables authorized systems to retrieve secrets through the mapping without directly exposing the secrets in the codebase, balancing protection with detectability for authorized access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary setup by creating and storing the mapping between dummy values and real secrets before the actual secret retrieval operations. This preliminary action establishes the access pathway in advance, making subsequent secret retrieval efficient and straightforward through the pre-configured mapping rather than requiring complex detection processes.
Data Source
AI summary
An example operation includes one or more of receiving a file comprising one or more secrets that are stored within a source code of a software application, generating one or more dummy values, mapping each of the one or more secrets to a corresponding dummy value of the one or more dummy values, replacing each of the one or more secrets that are stored within the source code with the corresponding dummy value to generate a modified source code, and storing the modified source code and the mapping in a data store.