Secure cloud storage distribution and aggregation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9536103-B2
Application number	US-201514741715-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 17, 2015
Priority date	Dec 2, 2013
Publication date	Jan 3, 2017
Grant date	Jan 3, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for vendor independent and secure cloud storage distribution and aggregation are provided. According to one embodiment, an application programming interface (API) is provided by a cloud storage gateway device logically interposed between third-party cloud storage platforms and users of an enterprise. The API facilitates storing of files, issuing of search requests against the files and retrieval of content of the files. A file storage policy is assigned to each user, which defines access rights, storage diversity requirements and a type of encryption to be applied to files. Responsive to receiving a request to store a file, (i) searchable encrypted data is created relating to content and/or metadata of the file based on the assigned file storage policy; and (ii) the searchable encrypted data is distributed among the third-party cloud storage platforms based on the storage diversity requirements defined by the assigned file storage policy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing, by a cloud storage gateway device logically interposed between one or more third-party cloud storage platforms and a plurality of users of an enterprise, a generalized application programming interface (API) through which the plurality of users can store files to the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms, issue search requests against the files and retrieve content of the files;
assigning, by the cloud storage gateway device, a file storage policy of a plurality of file storage policies to each user of the plurality of users, the plurality of file storage policies defining access rights, storage diversity requirements and a type of encryption to be applied to the files; and
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to store a file from a first user of the plurality of users:
creating, by the cloud storage gateway device, searchable encrypted data corresponding to one or more of (i) content of the file and (ii) metadata associated with the file, wherein the searchable encrypted data is based on the type of encryption defined by a first file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to the first user;
distributing, by the cloud storage gateway device, the searchable encrypted data among the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms based on the storage diversity requirements defined by the first file storage policy by uploading a subset of the searchable encrypted data to each of the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms; and
randomly creating, by the cloud storage gateway device, empty files and distributing the empty files among the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to search content of the file or metadata associated with the file:
determining, by the cloud storage gateway device, whether the search request is authorized based on the access rights defined by a file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to a user of the plurality of users with which the search request is associated; and
when the search request is authorized, causing, by the cloud storage gateway device, the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms to apply the search request to the searchable encrypted data and returning results of the search request to a source of the search request.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to access the file:
determining, by the cloud storage gateway device, whether the access request is authorized based on the access rights defined by a file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to a user of the plurality of users with which the access request is associated; and
when the access request is authorized, gathering the content of the file, by the cloud storage gateway device, by downloading a subset of the distributed searchable encrypted data from each of the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms and decrypting the searchable encrypted data; and
returning the file to a source of the access request.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said creating, by the cloud storage gateway device, searchable encrypted data further comprises encrypting content of the file using cryptographic key information defined by the first file storage policy.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising managing access to the stored file by the plurality of users based on the plurality of file storage policies.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein said encrypting content of the file further comprises:
dividing the file into a plurality of chunks;
creating namespaces for one or more of the plurality of chunks; and
configuring the namespaces of the one or more chunks such that content of the file is encrypted in a manner that makes it searchable.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said configuring the namespaces comprises storing content of the file as filenames.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said creating, by the cloud storage gateway device, searchable encrypted data is carried out independent of the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodying a set of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a cloud storage gateway device logically interposed between one or more third-party cloud storage platforms and a plurality of users of an enterprise, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
providing a generalized application programming interface (API) through which the plurality of users can store files to the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms, issue search requests against the files and retrieve content of the files;
assigning a file storage policy of a plurality of file storage policies to each user of the plurality of users, the plurality of file storage policies defining access rights, storage diversity requirements and a type of encryption to be applied to the files; and
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to store a file from a first user of the plurality of users:
creating searchable encrypted data corresponding to one or more of (i) content of the file and (ii) metadata associated with the file, wherein the searchable encrypted data is based on the type of encryption defined by a first file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to the first user;
distributing the searchable encrypted data among the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms based on the storage diversity requirements defined by the first file storage policy by uploading a subset of the searchable encrypted data to each of the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms; and
randomly creating empty files and distributing the empty files among the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to search content of the file or metadata associated with the file:
determining whether the search request is authorized based on the access rights defined by a file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to a user of the plurality of users with which the search request is associated; and
when the search request is authorized, causing, by the cloud storage gateway device, the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms to apply the search request to the searchable encrypted data and returning results of the search request to a source of the search request.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
responsive to receiving, via the generalized API, a request to access the file:
determining whether the access request is authorized based on the access rights defined by a file storage policy of the plurality of file storage policies assigned to a user of the plurality of users with which the access request is associated; and
when the access request is authorized, gathering the content of the file by downloading a subset of the distributed searchable encrypted data from each of the one or more third-party cloud storage platforms and decrypting the searchable encrypted data; and
returning the file to a source of the access request.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein said creating, by the cloud storage gateway device, searchable encrypted data further c

Assignees

• Fortinet Inc

Inventors

• Redberg David A

Classifications

• G06F16/148

  File search processing · CPC title

• G06F16/182

  Distributed file systems · CPC title

• H04L63/20

  for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227) · CPC title

• G06F21/6218 Primary

  to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database · CPC title

• G06F21/6272 Primary

  by registering files or documents with a third party · CPC title