Structure-Preserving Obfuscation for Secure Log Data Analysis

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Solution Overview

Problem

Security and confidentiality issues arise when sensitive data is sent off-premise for analysis, particularly when using third-party services for data storage and processing.

Innovation Solution

A data collection and analysis platform that implements structure-preserving obfuscation techniques, such as encrypting and transforming sensitive data before transmission, while maintaining the data structure for meaningful queries and analysis.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If sensitive data is transmitted to third-party services for storage and analysis, then data analysis capability is improved, but security and confidentiality are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata analysis capabilityVSAvoidsecurity and confidentiality risks

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by obfuscating sensitive data before transmission to third-party services. The system identifies sensitive fields in data structures and applies obfuscation transformations in advance, so that when data is sent for analysis, the sensitive information is already protected while maintaining the data structure needed for analysis operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary obfuscation layer between the data and third-party analysis services. This intermediary transformation layer modifies sensitive data fields while preserving non-sensitive fields, acting as a mediator that allows analysis to proceed on obfuscated data while protecting the original sensitive information from exposure to third parties.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If data is obfuscated to protect sensitivity, then security is improved, but query and analysis capability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata protectionVSAvoidquery and analysis capability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by selectively obfuscating only the sensitive portions of data structures while leaving non-sensitive portions unchanged. The system identifies specific sensitive fields within data structures and applies obfuscation only to those fields, preserving the original data structure and values in non-sensitive fields, thereby maintaining query and analysis capabilities for non-sensitive data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies parameter changes by transforming sensitive data values while maintaining the data structure parameters. The obfuscation process changes the values of sensitive fields but preserves the schema, field names, and structural parameters, allowing queries to operate on the preserved structure while the actual sensitive values remain protected through transformation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS10977269B1Selective structure preserving obfuscation

Publication Date: 2021.04.13 SUMO LOGIC

AI summary

Obfuscating data is disclosed. A processor identifies structured information in log data. The structured information is transformed in a manner that preserves the structure to form transformed raw data. The transformed raw data is sent to a remote analysis engine. The remote analysis engine receives a query and responds to the query by providing as results at least a portion of the transformed raw data. A processor is configured to de-transform the transformed raw data.