Systems and methods for management of secure data in cloud-based network

• US 8,639,950 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Ferris, James Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Barron, Jr., Gilberto
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cribbs, Malcolm
• Application Number:
  US13/335,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20120096567A1
• Time in Patent Office: 768 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 713/193
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for the management of secure data in a cloud-based network. A secure data store can store sensitive or confidential data, such as account numbers, social security numbers, medical or other information in an on-premise data facility. Regulatory and/or operational requirements may prohibit the migration or unprotected transmission of the secure data to the cloud. An operator can instantiate a set of virtual machines to access and process the secure data, for example to process online purchase transactions. To prevent unauthorized disclosure of the secure data, the secure data store can receive data access requests via a translation module that translates the secure data. The secure data store can retrieve and transmit the secure data using a protection mechanism such as a masking and/or encryption mechanism, avoiding the unprotected transport or exposure of that data to the cloud.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request to access secure data in a secure data store;

translating, using a processor, data identified in the request in order to locate the secure data in the secure data store, wherein the translating comprises translating an address associated with the identified data to a location of an entry in the secure data store;

retrieving the secure data from the secure data store;

encoding the secure data to generate protected secure data;

transmitting the protected secure data from the secure data store to an instantiated virtual machine;

decoding the protected secure data in the instantiated virtual machine to generate decoded secure data;

operating on the decoded secure data in the instantiated virtual machine; and

transmitting updated secure data from the instantiated virtual machine to the secure data store.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure data store comprises an on-premise data store.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating comprises translating an address into a secure data table.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure data store is co-located with a cloud management system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure data store is located external to a cloud management system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoding of the secure data comprises at least one of masking the secure data and encrypting the secure data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one instantiated virtual machine comprises a migrated image of an on-premise machine.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure data comprises at least one of user identification data, account data, medical data, technical data, and financial data.

9. A computer system, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, the processor to;

receive a request to access secure data in a secure data store;

translate data identified in the request in order to locate the secure data in the secure data store, wherein the translating comprises translating an address associated with the identified data to a location of an entry in the secure data store;

retrieve the secure data from the secure data store;

encode the secure data to generate protected secure data

transmit the protected secure data from the secure data store to an instantiated virtual machine;

decode the protected secure data in the instantiated virtual machine to generate decoded secure data;

operate on the decoded secure data in the instantiated virtual machine; and

transmit updated secure data from the instantiated virtual machine to the secure data store.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the secure data store comprises an on-premise data store.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the translating comprises translating an address into a secure data table.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the management module resides in a cloud management system.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the management module is further to encode the secure data by at least one of masking the secure data and encrypting the secure data.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one instantiated virtual machine comprises a migrated image of an on-premise machine.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the secure data comprises at least one of user identification data, account data, medical data, technical data, and financial data.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium programmed to include instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a request to access secure data in a secure data store;

translating, using the processor, data identified in the request in order to locate the secure data in the secure data store, wherein the translating comprises translating an address associated with the identified data to a location of an entry in the secure data store;

retrieving the secure data from the secure data store;

encoding the secure data to generate protected secure data;

transmitting the protected secure data from the secure data store to an instantiated virtual machine;

decoding the protected secure data in the instantiated virtual machine to generate decoded secure data;

operating on the decoded secure data in the instantiated virtual machine; and

transmitting updated secure data from the instantiated virtual machine to the secure data store.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the secure data store comprises an on-premise data store.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the translating comprises translating an address into a secure data table.