Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for generating a secure sandbox environment. A computer identifies components of a production environment that utilizes sensitive information during operation. The components of the production environment can include one or more server computers, one or more storage devices, and one or more applications. The computer receives a security policy that defines what constitutes sensitive information, and in response identifies the sensitive information of the production environment. The computer modifies the sensitive information such that the production environment can utilize the sensitive information without error, and such that the sensitive information cannot be identified from the modified sensitive information. The computer generates the sandbox environment, based at least in part, on the identified components of the production environment and the modified sensitive information.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to the field of information security, and more particularly to generating a secure sandbox environment replication of a production environment. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In business environments, information security and environment stability is critical. Quick resolutions are required for issues that can impact the capabilities of the production environment. One way in which businesses attempt to mitigate the potential risks in production environments is to develop stringent change control processes and quality testing environments. However, some quality testing environments may not be an adequate representation of a certain production environment. In such a case, there is significant risk to the businesses&#39; production environment, and unexpected issues can arise. A quality testing environment is a setup of hardware and software which is used to determine whether a production environment will operate as intended. Many production environments contain sensitive information which a business is not willing to expose in a testing environment. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for generating a secure sandbox environment. A computer identifies components of a production environment that utilizes sensitive information during operation. The components of the production environment can include one or more server computers, one or more storage devices, and one or more applications. The computer receives a security policy that defines what constitutes sensitive information, and in response identifies the sensitive information of the production environment. The computer modifies the sensitive information such that the production environment can utilize the sensitive information without error, and such that the sensitive information cannot be identified from the modified sensitive information. The computer generates the sandbox environment, based at least in part, on the identified components of the production environment and the modified sensitive information. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a data processing environment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of a program for configuring the parameters of a customer environment sandbox, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of a program for generating a customer environment sandbox responsive to defined parameters, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram of components of the computers of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    Embodiments of the present invention recognize that if a critical issue only occurs in a production environment, and is unable to be reproduced in a test environment, it is very difficult to diagnose and resolve the issue. In such situations, the production environment may include sensitive information that a business may be unwilling to share. Attempting to reproduce the issue occurring in the production environment can take a significant amount of time, and there is no guarantee that the issue will be truly reproduced. Production environments with unique characteristics increase the difficulty of reproducing the issue in a testing environment. 
         [0009]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-readable medium(s) having computer readable program code/instructions embodied thereon. 
         [0010]    Any combination of computer-readable media may be utilized. Computer-readable media may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of a computer-readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0011]    A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium may be any computer-readable medium that is not a computer-readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0012]    Program code embodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
         [0013]    Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java®, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0014]    Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0015]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0016]    The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0017]    The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the Figures.  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram illustrating data processing environment  100 , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0018]    Data processing environment  100  includes client computer  102 , network  104 , customer environment  106 , and sandbox environment  108 . In an exemplary embodiment, a user utilizes client computer  102  to access customer environment  106  and sandbox environment  108  through network  104 . In various embodiments of the present invention, client computer  102  may be a workstation, personal computer, personal digital assistant, mobile phone, or any other device capable of executing program instructions. In general, client computer  102  is representative of any electronic device or combination of electronic devices capable of executing machine-readable program instructions, as described in greater detail with regard to  FIG. 4 . In an example, data processing environment  100  may include more than one client computer  102  to access customer environment  106  and sandbox environment  108 . System software  110  is located on client computer  102  and may exist in the form of operating system software, which may be Windows®, LINUX®, and other application software such as internet applications and web browsers. A user interface  112  is located on client computer  102  and can allow a user on client computer  102  to input information into customer environment  106 , and sandbox environment  108 . 
         [0019]    Network  104  can be, for example, a local area network (LAN), a telecommunications network, a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a combination of the three, and include wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In general, network  104  can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communications between client computer  102 , customer environment  106 , and sandbox environment  108  in accordance with a desired embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0020]    Customer environment  106  is a client production environment depicted in the form of a collection of computing systems and databases including authorization server  114 , production environment server  118 , and production environment database  120 . Authorization server  114  and production environment server  118  can be desktop computers, specialized computer servers, or any other computer systems known in the art. In certain embodiments, authorization server  114  and production environment server  118  represent computer systems utilizing clustered computers and components (e.g., database server computers, application server computers, etc.) that act as a single pool of seamless resources when accessed through network  104 . In general, authorization server  114  and production environment server  118  are representative of any electronic device or combination of electronic devices capable of executing machine-readable program instructions, as described in greater detail with regard to  FIG. 4 . In an embodiment, authorization server  114  includes authorization database  116 . Production environment database  120  and authorization database  116  can be implemented with any type of database storage that is capable of storing data which may be accessed and utilized by client computer  102 , elements of customer environment  106 , and elements of sandbox environment  108 , such as a database server, a hard disk drive, or flash memory. 
         [0021]    In one embodiment, authorization server  114  controls the ability of client computer  102  to access customer environment  106 . Authorization database  116  includes security policies, login information, and other forms of sensitive information that customer environment  106  can utilize. In an example, when client computer  102  accesses customer environment  106 , client computer  102  utilizes user interface  112  to input information into authorization server  114  in order to determine whether client computer  102  is permitted to access content in customer environment  106 . In one embodiment, production environment server  118  is a representation of server computers in a client production environment, and production environment database  120  is a representation of databases and storage devices in a client production environment. In an exemplary embodiment, production environment server  118  and production environment database  120  can include system level configuration files, software registries and configuration files, network traces, performance information and snapshots, physical and virtual resources, software logs and traces, workload information, scripts, and process information of customer environment  106 . 
         [0022]    Sandbox environment  108  represents a collection of computing systems and environments which can access customer environment  106  through network  104  in order to replicate the production environment depicted in customer environment  106 . In one embodiment, sandbox environment  108  includes sandbox management server  122  and customer environment sandbox  124 . In one exemplary embodiment, sandbox configuration program  200  and sandbox generation program  300  exist in the form of programs included in sandbox management server  122 , or an application suite or framework included in sandbox management server  122 . Client computer  102  can access Sandbox management server  122  through network  104  in order to configure parameters and inputs of customer environment sandbox  124 , and access sandbox configuration program  200  and sandbox generation program  300 . Client computer  102  may interact with elements of sandbox management server  122  through inputs into user interface  112 . In an embodiment, sandbox management server  122  controls inputs, configuration parameters, and testing procedures of sandbox environment  108 . Sandbox management server  122  can represent a server computer or system of computers as previously discussed with regard to authorization server  116  and production environment server  118 . 
         [0023]    Customer environment sandbox  124  utilizes sandbox configuration program  200  to configure parameters responsive to user and system specifications, as discussed in greater detail with regard to  FIG. 2 . Sandbox generation program  300  generates an output image of customer environment  106  in the form of customer environment sandbox  124 , as discussed in greater detail with regard to  FIG. 3 . In one embodiment, sandbox configuration program  200  and sandbox generation program  300  can be located separate from sandbox management server  122  in a remote storage medium in data processing environment  100 . 
         [0024]    In an exemplary embodiment, customer environment sandbox  124  is a secure sandbox replication of customer environment  106 , and includes secure replications of all elements of customer environment  106 . Customer environment sandbox  124  can build frameworks for solution deployments, test inputs into the environment, and verify results of customer environment  106 . In one embodiment, customer environment sandbox  124  can track changes and differences between results in customer environment  106  and customer environment sandbox  124 . In an example, sensitive information that authorization server  114  and authorization database  116  includes can undergo a uniform transformation to protect sensitive information, while maintaining important characteristics of sensitive information, into customer environment sandbox  124 . The process of uniformly transforming sensitive information into customer environment sandbox  124  will be discussed in further detail with regard to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . In one embodiment, customer environment sandbox  124  can include an output image of customer environment  106 , the process for defining and generating an output image of customer environment  106  will be described in further detail with regard to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of sandbox configuration program  200  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, sandbox configuration program  200  configures parameters for sandbox generation program  300 , which are used to create customer environment sandbox  124 . 
         [0026]    In step  202 , sandbox configuration program  200  receives a definition of a production environment to be replicated for simulation. In one embodiment, the production environment may be customer environment  106  in its entirety, or a subset of customer environment  106 . For example, a user may define a subset of customer environment  106  for sandbox configuration program  200  to replicate, and the subset definition would include network traffic information from customer environment  106 . In one embodiment, sandbox configuration program  200  can interpolate characteristics of the production environment in order to scale the size of customer environment sandbox  124 . The definition of the production environment includes selecting custom and product provided plug-ins, source inputs, and other parameters of the production environment that customer environment sandbox  124  is to include. Plug-ins that the production environment includes may be located in production environment server  118  or production environment database  120  and can represent any program or process that is a part of customer environment  106 . In one exemplary embodiment, a specific time frame (i.e. 2 pm-4 pm) of customer environment  106  may be defined. Definition of the production environment can be accomplished through user input into sandbox configuration program  200 , and in the form of prompts or other methods. In another embodiment, product defined and custom plug-ins that the defined production environment includes may include parameters that plug-ins define, or require user definition of parameters that sandbox configuration program  200  utilizes. 
         [0027]    In step  204 , sandbox configuration program  200  receives a definition of security policies for the production environment. The definition of security policies may be accomplished through information provided from default or program provided plug-ins, or user definitions. In one embodiment, security policies determine which data in customer environment  106  is sensitive or confidential, which indicate information that requires transformation before sandbox configuration program  200  can utilize information. In another embodiment, security policies define an encryption method preference for transformation of elements and information that customer environment  106  contains to customer environment sandbox  124 . 
         [0028]    In step  206 , sandbox configuration program  200  receives a definition of a desired output mechanism. In one embodiment, the output mechanism is the form in which the replication of customer environment  106  to customer environment sandbox  124  occurs. In another embodiment, the output mechanism can be a report to track changes to an environment over time. The possible forms of the output may include, but are not limited to, virtual machine images, operating system images, a set of scripts, and data and configuration files. In an example, an output image may generate a use case that captures environments and configurations for reuse in order to demonstrate Proof of Concept (POC), or other forms of demonstrations and deployments. In this example, utilizing the output image as a use case can reduce set up times and provide consistent deployment of a given environment. 
         [0029]    In step  208 , sandbox configuration program  200  configures parameters for the customer environment sandbox responsive to the definitions. In this embodiment, sandbox configuration program  200  operates to configure parameters for the generation of customer environment sandbox  124  corresponding to, at least in part, types of inputs, sensitive components of the environment, plug-ins, transformation methods for sensitive data, and output options. A result of sandbox configuration program  200  is that sandbox generation program  300  can generate secure replication of customer environment  106  in the form of customer environment sandbox  124  responsive to certain parameters. 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting operational steps of sandbox generation program  300  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, sandbox management server  122  utilizes sandbox generation program  300  to generate a secure sandbox replication of customer environment  106  responsive to configuration inputs of sandbox configuration program  200 . Sandbox generation program  300  generates customer sandbox environment  124  through the phases of loading inputs and plug-ins, uniformly transforming sensitive input data and characteristics, and generating an output image of customer environment  106 . 
         [0031]    In step  302 , sandbox generation program  300  accesses the desired production environment. Step  202  of sandbox configuration program  200  defines the desired production environment. In an example, sandbox generation program  300  accesses customer environment  106 , which is the desired production environment, through network  104 . 
         [0032]    In step  304 , sandbox generation program  300  loads custom and product provided plug-ins, and identifies source inputs. In one embodiment, step  304  of sandbox generation program  300  prepares elements of production environment server  118  and production environment database  120  for replication into customer environment sandbox  124 . Elements and plug-ins that customer environment  106  includes allow customer environment sandbox  124  to understand inputs of the production environment. The identification of source inputs occurs so that the transformation of inputs into customer environment sandbox  124  maintains security of sensitive input information. 
         [0033]    In step  306 , sandbox generation program  300  uniformly transforms source inputs. In one embodiment, sandbox generation program  300  transforms inputs to customer environment  106  so that the inputs sensitive information is secure, while maintaining key characteristics of inputs. Inputs that require transformation may include, but are not limited to, login information, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, content host information, or other inputs. In an exemplary embodiment, sandbox generation program  300  transforms login information and passwords. In this embodiment, the data string can be parsed to identify key characteristics which can include string length, alpha numeric values and location, special characters and location, character casing, or other characteristics of login and password information. Once sandbox generation program  300  identifies key characteristics, sandbox generation program  300  replaces the string with a new string that maintains key characteristics of the original string without exposing the value of the original string. Sandbox generation program  300  can then uniformly replace the original string across all occurrences in customer environment  106  so that customer environment sandbox  124  will not expose the original string. In one embodiment, sandbox generation program  300  can utilize a process similar to the transformation and replacement of the login information and password for transformation of other data types. In one embodiment, sandbox management server  122  can utilize step  306  of sandbox generation program  300  to uniformly transform sensitive information in authorization server  114  and authorization database  116  through use of standard and custom defined plug-ins and according to security policies of customer environment  106 . 
         [0034]    In step  308 , sandbox generation program  300  creates a specified output image of the production environment. In one embodiment, sandbox generation program  300  replicates transformed content from step  306 , plug-ins and applications from step  304 , along with system configurations and other resources from customer environment  106  to create the output image of the production environment. In an exemplary embodiment, in step  202  of sandbox configuration program  200  the user may have defined a specific time frame of operation for the desired production environment. In such an example, sandbox generation program  300  utilizes information from the production environment for the time frame to create an output image that replicates the defined production environment. The output image of sandbox generation program  300  is represented as customer environment sandbox  124  in  FIG. 1 , and contains transformed elements of customer environment  106 . In one embodiment, the output can be a virtual image for replaying the transformed replication of customer environment  106  in order to reproduce behavior experienced in customer environment  106 . By transforming customer environment  106  into customer environment sandbox  124 , sandbox generation program  300  can capture application traces order to learn more about a problem being that customer environment  106  may experience, without impacting customer environment  106  or exposing sensitive information. 
         [0035]      FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram of components of computer  400 , which is representative of client computer  102 , authorization server  114 , production environment server  118 , and sandbox management server  122 , in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 4  provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environment may be made. 
         [0036]    Computer  400  includes communications fabric  402 , which provides communications between computer processor(s)  404 , memory  406 , persistent storage  408 , communications unit  410 , and input/output (I/O) interface(s)  412 . Communications fabric  402  can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/or control information between processors (such as microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example, communications fabric  402  can be implemented with one or more buses. 
         [0037]    Memory  406  and persistent storage  408  are computer-readable storage media. In this embodiment, memory  406  includes random access memory (RAM)  414  and cache memory  416 . In general, memory  406  can include any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage media. Software and data  422  can be stored in persistent storage  408  for access and/or execution by processor(s)  404  via one or more memories of memory  406 . With respect to client computer  102 , software and data  422  includes system software  110 . With respect to authorization server  114 , software and data  422  includes authorization database  116 . With respect to sandbox management server  122 , software and data  422  includes sandbox configuration program  200  and sandbox generation program  300 . 
         [0038]    In this embodiment, persistent storage  408  includes a magnetic hard disk drive. Alternatively, or in addition to a magnetic hard disk drive, persistent storage  408  can include a solid state hard drive, a semiconductor storage device, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, or any other computer-readable storage media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital information. 
         [0039]    The media used by persistent storage  408  may also be removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage  408 . Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto another computer-readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage  408 . 
         [0040]    Communications unit  410 , in these examples, provides for communications with other data processing systems or devices. In these examples, communications unit  410  includes one or more network interface cards. Communications unit  410  may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communications links. Software and data  422  may be downloaded to persistent storage  408  through communications unit  410 . 
         [0041]    I/O interface(s)  412  allows for input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computer  400 . For example, I/O interface  412  may provide a connection to external devices  418  such as a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, and/or some other suitable input device. External devices  418  can also include portable computer-readable storage media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Software and data  422  can be stored on such portable computer-readable storage media and can be loaded onto persistent storage  408  via I/O interface(s)  412 . I/O interface(s)  412  also connect to a display  420 . 
         [0042]    Display  420  provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be, for example, a computer monitor. Display  420  can also function as a touch screen, such as a display of a tablet computer. 
         [0043]    The programs described herein are identified based upon the application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus the invention should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. 
         [0044]    The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.