Patent Application
20180034787
Cyber attacks continue to grow more sophisticated and persistent. To combat threats and keep data safe, Information technology (IT) teams have to employ robust encryption, key management, and access controls. This is especially true for information held in storage environments, which can contain an organization's most vital assets. To secure storage, many organizations have been leveraging native encryption offerings from their storage vendors. The growing trend with “all flash” storage array deployments in enterprises pose particular challenges when encrypted data from host servers have to be stored in these arrays. Flash storage arrays offer high performance and capabilities like compression and deduplication for storage efficiency. With sophisticated encryption algorithms that extend beyond simple substitution ciphers, encrypted data tends not to compress as much, and tends to not yield as much reduction in storage, as when deduplication and/or compression are applied to unencrypted data. Many storage systems are available with deduplication and/or compression, for example in network attached storage (NAS or SAN). Yet, to supply unencrypted or plaintext data over a network to such a storage system is risky, and can result in a security breach. It is within this context that the embodiments arise.
In some embodiments, a method for key sharing with a storage system, performed by a network device or security manager is provided. The method includes sharing a first key with a host system and sharing the first key with a storage system. The host system encrypts a file or data with the first key and sends the encrypted file or data to the storage system. The storage system decrypts the encrypted file or data with the first key, compresses the decrypted file or data, and re-encrypts the decrypted file or data.
Other aspects and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the described embodiments.
The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the described embodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the described embodiments.
For security reasons, it is desirable to send encrypted data over a network to a storage system, so that unencrypted data is not accessible on the network. And, for storage efficiency and storage density reasons, it is desirable to deduplicate and/or compress unencrypted data prior to storage. Also for security reasons, it is desirable to store encrypted data, not unencrypted or plaintext data, in storage memory. These preferences are addressed by various embodiments of key sharing for a storage system as disclosed herein. In common across many of these embodiments, a host encrypts data with a first key, and sends the encrypted data, e.g., over a network, to a storage system. The storage system decrypts the data, using the first key, and performs deduplication and/or compression on the unencrypted or decrypted data. Then, the storage system encrypts the resultant deduplicated and/or compressed data, with a second key that is local to that storage system, finally storing the data as deduplicated and/or compressed, and encrypted. Various embodiments thus avoid sending unencrypted data over a network, also avoid deduplicating encrypted data and compressing encrypted data, and finally avoid storing unencrypted data, hence satisfying the above preferences. A data security management system, which can be networked device, is disclosed herein as managing and sharing one or more keys for the host(s) and storage system(s) in various embodiments.
The data security management system 102, which could be implemented in software executing on a processor, firmware, hardware or combinations thereof, has a policy manager 104 and a key manager 106, along with memory in which the shared first key 108 is stored. There are multiple versions of how the shared first key 108 is sourced and distributed. In a single host system, the host 110 could generate or otherwise source the shared first key 108, and send the shared first key 108 to the data security management system 102, which distributes the shared first key 108 to one or more storage systems 116 in some embodiments. In a multiple host 110 system, one host 110 could generate or otherwise source the shared first key 108, and send the shared first key 108 to the data security management system 102. The data security management system 102 then sends the shared first key 108 to the other hosts 110 and to one or more storage systems 116. In some embodiments, the data security management system 102 could generate or otherwise source the shared first key 108, and send the shared first key 108 to one or more hosts 110 and one or more storage systems 116. Further variations of sourcing and distribution for the shared first key 108 are readily devised in keeping with the teachings described herein.
The storage system 116 could be implemented using various storage technologies, and could include various types of storage memory 118 such as hard disks, flash memory or other solid-state storage, optical storage, tape, etc., and could include redundancy, error correction or other reliability enhancing technology, such as one or more levels of RAID (redundant array of independent disks or other storage devices). In one embodiment, the storage system 116 includes one or more encrypted logical units (LUNs) implemented as virtualized storage memory using physical storage and computing components. The storage system 116 has one or more encryption/decryption modules 112, or equivalently, one or more encryption modules and one or more decryption modules, a deduplication module 114, a compression module 116, storage memory 118, and memory for storing a shared first key 108 and a storage local second key 120. The storage memory 118 could include one or more storage devices of various types as discussed above, in various configurations, and is not limited to a single device type or homogeneity.
In operation, the data security management system 102 coordinates distribution of a shared first key 108. In one embodiment, the key manager 106 cooperates with the policy manager 104, to distribute the shared first key 108 in accordance with one or more policies 122 of the policy manager 104. Using the shared first key 108 that is generated or otherwise sourced by the host 110, or received by the host 110 from the data security management system 102 in some embodiments, the host 110 encrypts data by way of the encryption/decryption module 112 of the host 110. Following such encryption, the host 110 sends first key encrypted data 114 to the storage system 116, for example via a network. Upon receipt of the first key encrypted data 114, the storage system 116 uses an encryption/decryption module 112 and the shared first key 108 that is received by the storage system 116 from the data security management system 102, or generated or otherwise sourced by the storage system 116 in some embodiments, to decrypt the first key encrypted data 114. Next, the storage system 116 deduplicates the decrypted data, using the deduplication module 114, or compresses the data using the compression module 116, or both deduplicates and compresses the decrypted data, in various embodiments. After that, the storage system 116 uses either the same or another encryption/decryption module 112, and the storage local second key 120, to encrypt the deduplicated and/or compressed data, and stores the second key encrypted, deduplicated and or compressed data in the storage memory 118. The above describes the host 110 writing data to the storage system 116, for example using a write request.
For the host 110 to read data from the storage system 116, the reverse path is followed. For example, the host 110 could send a read request to the storage system 116. The storage system 116 reads the second key encrypted data from the storage memory 118, and applies the storage local second key 120 and the encryption/decryption module 116 to decrypt the data. Then, the storage system 116 uses the compression module 116 and/or the deduplication module 114 to decompress and/or reconstitute the data. Finally the storage system 116 uses the shared first key 108 and the same or another encryption/decryption module 112 to encrypt the data, and sends the first key encrypted data 114 to the host 110. The host 110 uses the shared first key 108 and the encryption/decryption module 112 of the host 110, to decrypt the first key encrypted data 114, and now has the desired read data in unencrypted or plaintext form. Other hosts 110 (in embodiments with more than one host 110) can use their own copy of the shared first key 108, as managed by the data security management system 102, to encrypt data and send data to the storage system 116, or receive first key encrypted data 114 from the storage system 116 and decrypt the data.
Read data from the storage system 116 follows the read path 204 from the storage memory 118. Thus, the second key encrypted data in the storage memory is read from the storage memory 118 in a retrieval of the stored data, followed by decryption with the storage local second key, data decompression and/or data reconstitution, and encryption with the shared first key. The first key encrypted data 114 is then sent from the storage system 116 to the host 110.
For example, to manage the keys, the key manager 106 could determine, in cooperation with the policy manager 104, that the host 110 with the first key A 304 is writing to and reading from the left-most storage system 116 in
In the embodiment shown in
For writing data from the host 110 to the storage memory 118 (see
For reading data from the storage memory 118 to the host 110, the reverse path is followed, as the storage system 116 decrypts the second key encrypted data retrieved from the storage memory 118, using the storage local key 120, followed by decompression and/or reconstitution of the data, and encryption using the first key 502, with the storage system 116 sending first key encrypted data to the host 110. Similarly, the storage system 116 decrypts the second key encrypted metadata retrieved from the storage memory 118, using the storage local key 120, followed by decompression and/or reconstitution of the metadata in embodiments where the metadata was deduplicated and/or compressed prior to storage. Finally the storage system encrypts the measured data, using the first key 502, and sends first key encrypted metadata 510 to the host 110.
In some embodiments agents in the host 110 and the storage system 116 may facilitate communicating with each other. For example, an agent in the host 110 could access information in the file system, without actually requiring any modification of the file system in some embodiments. Communication could allow the storage system 116 to determine which key to use in some embodiments. Agents in the host 110 and the storage system 116 may facilitate communicating with the data security management system 102 in some embodiments. Communication among the agents and the data security management system 102 enables the data security management system 102 to determine which key or keys go where and how the keys are to be used in some embodiments.
In an action 706, each host encrypts data, using the key of that host, and sends the key encrypted data to a storage system. In an action 708, each host encrypts metadata, using the key of that host, and sends the key encrypted metadata to a storage system. This could be the same or a differing storage system in various embodiments. In an action 710, each storage system decrypts the data, using the first key, as shared by the host and/or by the data security management system. In an action 710, each storage system can also decrypt the metadata, using the first key, as shared by the host and/or by the data security management system.
In an action 712 each storage system deduplicates and/or compresses the decrypted data and/or decrypted metadata. In an action 714, each storage system encrypts deduplicated and/or compressed data and/or metadata, using a local storage key, and stores the local storage key encrypted, deduplicated and/or compressed data and/or metadata in storage memory.
In a further method, the majority of the above steps are reversed, for reading data and/or metadata from a storage system to a host. In further methods, subsets or variations of the above actions are applied to methods for a single host and a single storage system, with or without a data security management system, a method in which data is encrypted but metadata is not encrypted by the host, and a method in which individual blocks or chunks of data are associated with individual first keys for a storage system. Still further methods include a method in which second keys are managed by the data security management system, methods in which keys are generated by hosts, methods in which keys are generated by the data security management system, methods in which the keys are generated by the storage systems, and methods in which various mechanisms described above for communication among hosts, the data security management system and/or the storage system(s) are used for determining the sharing of the various keys.
In
The secure volume manager 808 has an encryption/decryption module 812, and appropriate key(s). In one embodiment, keys are managed as described above with reference to
The above system solves multiple problems. A first problem is that, if the application 802 encrypted the metadata, the secure file system 804 would not have access to unencrypted metadata for use in access control and guard points. Also, a system administrator would not have access to unencrypted metadata to see file information. A second problem is that, if the application 802, the secure file system 804 or the file system 806 encrypted the metadata, the metadata would not necessarily be aligned along 512 byte boundaries that the storage 810 prefers for decryption and compression as described above with reference to
It should be appreciated that the methods described herein may be performed with a digital processing system, such as a conventional, general-purpose computer system. Special purpose computers, which are designed or programmed to perform only one function may be used in the alternative.
Display 1011 is in communication with CPU 1001, memory 1003, and mass storage device 1007, through bus 1005. Display 1011 is configured to display any visualization tools or reports associated with the system described herein. Input/output device 1009 is coupled to bus 1005 in order to communicate information in command selections to CPU 1001. It should be appreciated that data to and from external devices may be communicated through the input/output device 1009. CPU 1001 can be defined to execute the functionality described herein to enable the functionality described with reference to
Detailed illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein. However, specific functional details disclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describing embodiments. Embodiments may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.
It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various steps or calculations, these steps or calculations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one step or calculation from another. For example, a first calculation could be termed a second calculation, and, similarly, a second step could be termed a first step, without departing from the scope of this disclosure. As used herein, the term “and/or” and the “/” symbol includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Therefore, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.
It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that the embodiments might employ various computer-implemented operations involving data stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms, such as producing, identifying, determining, or comparing. Any of the operations described herein that form part of the embodiments are useful machine operations. The embodiments also relate to a device or an apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus can be specially constructed for the required purpose, or the apparatus can be a general-purpose computer selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in the computer. In particular, various general-purpose machines can be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations.
A module, an application, a layer, an agent or other method-operable entity could be implemented as hardware, firmware, or a processor executing software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciated that, where a software-based embodiment is disclosed herein, the software can be embodied in a physical machine such as a controller. For example, a controller could include a first module and a second module. A controller could be configured to perform various actions, e.g., of a method, an application, a layer or an agent.
The embodiments can also be embodied as computer readable code on a tangible non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data, which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include hard drives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over a network coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Embodiments described herein may be practiced with various computer system configurations including hand-held devices, tablets, microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The embodiments can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a wire-based or wireless network.
Although the method operations were described in a specific order, it should be understood that other operations may be performed in between described operations, described operations may be adjusted so that they occur at slightly different times or the described operations may be distributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processing operations at various intervals associated with the processing.
In various embodiments, one or more portions of the methods and mechanisms described herein may form part of a cloud-computing environment. In such embodiments, resources may be provided over the Internet as services according to one or more various models. Such models may include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). In IaaS, computer infrastructure is delivered as a service. In such a case, the computing equipment is generally owned and operated by the service provider. In the PaaS model, software tools and underlying equipment used by developers to develop software solutions may be provided as a service and hosted by the service provider. SaaS typically includes a service provider licensing software as a service on demand. The service provider may host the software, or may deploy the software to a customer for a given period of time. Numerous combinations of the above models are possible and are contemplated.
Various units, circuits, or other components may be described or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, the phrase “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicating that the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the task even when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currently operational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used with the “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits, memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, for that unit/circuit/component. Additionally, “configured to” can include generic structure (e.g., generic circuitry) that is manipulated by software and/or firmware (e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) to operate in manner that is capable of performing the task(s) at issue. “Configured to” may also include adapting a manufacturing process (e.g., a semiconductor fabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g., integrated circuits) that are adapted to implement or perform one or more tasks.
The foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the embodiments and various modifications as may be suited to the particular use contemplated. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.
