Staging and Production Policy Stores for Secure Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
In computer systems, the person deciding policies may not be the same as the one creating or configuring them, leading to potential security weaknesses and performance issues due to unauthorized access and poor configuration choices.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a staging store for policies where only a configuration entity has read/write access, while a policy manager has read access to the staging store and write access to the production store, allowing approval or denial of staging policies before they are applied to the production store.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the policy decider or policy object creator is granted permission to configure the computer system to enforce the policy, then the policy can be applied directly, but the security of the computer system is weakened and the risk of performance issues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the policy management process into two distinct stores: a staging store for policy creation and modification, and a production store for approved policy enforcement. This segmentation separates the policy development function from the policy enforcement function, allowing efficient policy creation while maintaining system security through controlled access to the production store.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a policy manager as an intermediary component that mediates between the staging store and production store. The policy manager controls the approval process, validating policies before they are copied to the production store. This intermediary ensures that only approved policies can be enforced, preventing unauthorized or poorly configured policies from compromising system security.
2Ease of operation
If the configuration entity has direct write access to the production store, then policy changes can be applied immediately, but unauthorized changes and regulatory violations may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by requiring policies to be created and validated in the staging store before being approved for production. The configuration entity can prepare and test policy changes in the staging environment without risking the production system. Only after approval does the policy manager copy the validated policy to the production store, ensuring that unauthorized changes cannot occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The policy manager serves as an intermediary that controls all write operations to the production store. Even though the configuration entity has write access to the staging store, the policy manager acts as a gatekeeper that must approve any policy before it can be written to the production store. This intermediary mechanism prevents unauthorized changes while maintaining operational efficiency.
3Device complexity
If the policy manager has full access to both staging and production stores, then policy approval and derivation can be streamlined, but the risk of improper configuration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by granting the policy manager different access rights to different stores based on the specific requirements of each. The policy manager has read access to the staging store to review and approve policies, and write access to the production store to copy approved policies. This differentiated access control ensures proper configuration accuracy while maintaining a streamlined approval process.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to managing policies. In aspects, a staging store is used to store policies that are not applied to a computer system unless and until they are copied to or otherwise imported into a production store. A configuration entity is allowed read/write access to the staging store, but is not allowed write access to the production store. A policy manager is granted read access to the staging store and write access to the production store. The policy manager may approve or deny staging policies. If the policy manger approves a staging policy, the policy manager may derive a production policy from the staging policy and store the production policy in the production store. Once a policy is in the production store, the policy may be applied to one or more entities as appropriate.