Vault-Based Sensitive Data Protection in Communications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital communication systems fail to protect sensitive data after it reaches the intended recipient, as they decrypt communications, making the data vulnerable to unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
A method where sensitive information is identified and replaced with reference tags or placeholders, stored in a vault, and only accessible to authorized recipients, ensuring data protection by using a vault system that manages access and encryption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If communications are encrypted in transit using SSL/TLS, then data protection during transmission is improved, but data becomes vulnerable after decryption at the destination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sensitive data from the communication content and stores it separately in a secure vault. The communication contains only a reference token, while the actual sensitive data is removed and stored in a protected environment, preventing unauthorized access even if the communication is compromised at the destination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a vault as an intermediary component between the communication system and the sensitive data. The vault acts as a mediator that stores the sensitive data securely and provides controlled access, separating the communication flow from the actual data storage and access control.
2Reliability
If sensitive data is stored in a vault with access control, then data security is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses reference tokens or placeholders that copy only the essential identifying information needed for access, rather than storing or transmitting the complete sensitive data. These reference tokens serve as simplified representations that maintain security while reducing the complexity of data management in the vault.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If data is replaced with reference tags, then unauthorized access is prevented, but data usability for authorized recipients may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The vault serves as an intermediary that resolves reference tokens into actual sensitive data for authorized recipients. This mediator approach maintains security by keeping data in token form during transmission, while ensuring usability by automatically providing the actual data to authorized users through the vault's controlled access mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for protecting sensitive data in communications are described, including identifying first information in content created by a user for a communication; sending the first information to a vault; receiving, from the vault, an identifier associated with the first information; replacing the first information in the content with second information that is associated with the first information and does not provide any indication of the content of the first information; and sending the communication comprising the content with the second information and the identifier.