Secure Autocomplete Filtering via Ternary Search Tree
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing autocomplete and instant search systems in online search services often fail to securely filter and authorize user access to sensitive information, potentially revealing unauthorized data to users.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes a ternary search tree to securely filter autocomplete suggestions by retrieving user security information and excluding unauthorized objects from search results, ensuring only accessible data is returned to the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional autocomplete systems return all matching objects without security filtering, then the autocomplete functionality is simple and fast, but unauthorized sensitive information may be revealed to users
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary security filtering by attaching security metadata to each object in the prefix index during index construction. This allows security checks to be performed efficiently during autocomplete queries without requiring complex real-time authorization logic, resolving the contradiction between security reliability and system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces security metadata as an intermediary layer between the autocomplete index and user queries. This metadata acts as a mediator that enables secure filtering without requiring direct complex authorization checks between the search system and user credentials, thus improving security while maintaining system simplicity
2Reliability
If security filtering is implemented for each autocomplete query, then unauthorized information is prevented from being revealed, but the query processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Security metadata is prepared in advance during index construction, so that during query processing, the system only needs to retrieve and filter based on pre-computed security information rather than performing complex authorization checks, thus maintaining fast query response times while ensuring security
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the necessary security metadata from the full object data during query processing. By separating security filtering from complete object retrieval, the system minimizes processing time while still enforcing security constraints effectively
3Loss of information
If all matching objects are returned without filtering, then the autocomplete provides comprehensive results, but sensitive information security is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different quality filters to different objects in the results based on their security metadata. Each object is evaluated individually against the user's authorization level, allowing the system to return complete information for authorized objects while filtering out sensitive information for unauthorized objects, thus maintaining information completeness where appropriate while securing sensitive data
Data Source
AI summary
A system that provides secure autocomplete searching receives an autocomplete query from a user, the autocomplete query including a prefix of a search phrase, and retrieves security information of the user. The system searches one or more prefix indexes to find a set of matching objects, where the matching objects each include associated object security information. The system excludes matching objects that the user is not authorized to access from the set of matching objects based on the object security information and the user security information. The system then returns the set of matching objects to the user.