IBM Improves Data Security With New Patent
IBM is continuing its cloud storage and computing stranglehold by announcing their development of a new and patented technique for safeguarding sensitive data before transmittance to the cloud.
Currently, clients across the globe experience cloud challenges specifically in regard to data security protocols. This patented secured system is intended for protecting sensitive records by initially redacting the data being sent to the cloud and then restoring it when it is sent back from the cloud platform. Thus, this will significantly improve IBM’s user security and confidentiality. According to IBM, “Patents like this help to solve real-world security challenges that are inhibiting cloud computing growth. IBM’s investment in research and development is producing innovations that will advance the company’s cloud computing and security leadership.”
As for what the technology is, the abstract reads, “A system and associated method for securing sensitive data in a cloud computing environment. A customer system has proprietary data as a record stored in a database. The customer system associates a hashing directive with the record prior to sending the data out to a cloud for computing services. The hashing directive classifies each data field of the record into sensitive and transactional. The hashing directive controls a mode of hashing, either one-way hashing or two-way hashing for each sensitive data field associated with the hashing directive. A cloud receives the record secured according to the hashing directive and process the record to generate a result value for a cloud process result field of the record. The customer system reconstitutes the record the record according to the mode of hashing indicated in the hashing directive.”
IBM Endpoint Strategist and Security Architect Garreth Jeremiah, who invented the technology, explained how it works to Talkin’ Cloud as such: “Consider a cloakroom attendant being given a winter jacket that comes with instructions that say the winter jacket is to be replaced by a dinner jacket. The attendant follows the instructions of the winter jacket that indicate the attendant should give the customer a dinner jacket. The attendant remembers the linkage between customer, dinner jacket and winter jacket. The customer then goes into the restaurant for dinner. After dinner, the customer returns the dinner jacket and the attendant (knowing the linkage) returns the original winter jacket to the customer, including anything in the pockets of the dinner jacket.”
