Backstory
I work for a company that has an online site that allows user to text personal information for collection. We collect the data, and make it available online. Users can choose to share the data with other users.
Going Forward
At some point, this may become classified an FDA-governed medical tool. In anticipation, we'd like to have in place a logging system that shows each time someone accesses our users' data, whether it be the user themselves, another authorized user, or a support person.
Current Architecture
We are currently running Ruby/Rails, and using a MySQL database. The personal information is encrypted in the database.
Data Access for Support
Today, support personnel can access data one of three ways:
admin site The admin site is limited to whatever screens we develop. While we don't currently, we could easily add logging to keep an audit trail of who accessed which data using the admin tool.
sql client I use MySQLWorkbench to access production. However, when connected this way, all personal information (user name, cell number, etc), is encrypted.
Ruby Rails console - Finally, support can log into one of the production boxes and use the Ruby/Rails console from command line. Ruby will decrypt the data, so we can do some simple things such as
u=User.find_all_by_state('active')
and it will return the recordset of all users with state='active', and decrypt their personal information in the resultset.
Holy Grail
logging
easy access for support
I'd love to be have a way to allow easy support access (once authenticated) to the data, but would log everything that is accessed (read or updated). That way, if I'm checking out my buddy's ex-wife's data for example, it gets logged to a place where I can't get in and clean it the audit trail. (See Google firing Gmail employee for an example of employees breaching the data policies).
Anyone have ideas, thoughts, experiences, suggestions with this issue?
hey devguy. This was a issue for me a couple months back. We ended up centralizing our mysql queires so that we could start to track all information coming in and out. Unfortunately the class I wrote is in PHP but the idea behind it could make it very easy to start logging.
https://code.google.com/p/php-centralized-mysql-controller/
Try stored procedures. Make all code use the stored procedures for CRUD activities. This defines an API that your developers can use while business rules are global enforced (don't return entire SSN values, but only last 4 digits, etc).
This serves as the basis for an external API as well.
If you want logging/auditing, you put it in the procedure.
This protects you from everyone except the DBAs.
Related
I have 2 systems let's call them i and j. Each have it's own database.
Each have a registration page, where a user is inserted in a user table.
What is the best way to synchronize both tables, where if any user registers at system i it will be also registered at system j.
Notes:
I cannot read from each other databases directly.
I can do small changes in the code if needed and it will not affect the system performance or natural behavior.
I can create API's for both systems if needed.
I can add any tables or fields if needed.
I can create any cron jobs unless it will affect the performance of the system or server.
I'm using cPanel.
Technologies:
MySQL
PHP
REST API's
The fact that you list cpanel as a technology shows you're working with an inflexible budget hosting vendor. So it's unlikely they'll cooperate in setting up background tasks (cron jobs) to merge your user tables behind the scenes. (cpanel isn't a technology: it's a system administration user interface provided by hosting vendors who don't trust their customers' skills.)
So. you should design and implement a REST API in the code of both your apps to perform user registration and authentication tasks. You didn't show us the details of your app, so it's hard to design it for you. Still it seems likely you'll have to implement these operations:
PUT user
DELETE user
GET user
POST user to validate a user's password, etc. (Don't use GET to pass secret information: GET request parameters go into server logs.)
PATCH to update details of a user.
If you get the API working, whenever you create/retrieve/update/delete user information in one app, you'll use the API to change it in the other.
Your best bet would be to create a third app just for user management, and have both your existing apps use it. That way you're sure to have one coherent source of truth about users. But you can do it just within two apps.
I am looking for a solution that lets me interconnect several databases.
But let me explain it with the exact example:
I have a main domain (front page for public clients) and four sub-domains (development, management, client, ...) in the clients webhosting.
Each domain has its own database and runs different software (WordPress, dolibarr, sysPass, our own software), but all databases are stored on the same mySQL server.
If a CRUD is made, I want that the other databases also "do" something with that data.
Basically, automation.
For example - a user on development.subdomain.xyz sets a project task to "finished".
When the UPDATE is done to the "development" database, I want an INSERT with parts of that data into the "management" database and an UPDATE towards the "client" database.
I could write up some script that connects to all four databases and does the operations necessary.
But that feels a little hard to maintain if multiple users shall have access to this "logic" system?
I could also use the provided API's and process the data (again in a script form rather than implementing a whole UI).
That feels like adding an unnecessary, extra security concern and again hard to maintain?
If I want to add additional functionality - like sending an Email as well, that would even make it harder for non-coders to interact.
So I found several of these "Low-Code Business Process Management" tools and now I'm at a loss.
Is that what I'm looking for? Can you throw me some tags, keywords or links to guide my search for possible solutions?
I do not even know how to call such a system or search for it - which stops me from progressing.
Thank you for all tips :)
Intent: I would like to distribute forms to User X, User Y and User Z. These forms would be pre-populated with existing data on their ongoing projects. Meaning for User X, he will only be able to see his own details etc. They are to validate the information, and make changes to the data if necessary.
I tried finding the best way to go about executing this and landed on MS Access (if there's something else, please do share).
So I have a database, created my forms but how do I go about sharing only the forms to my users and updating my database. Resources I have include:
SharePoint Online (may or may not have access to it...)
Outlook
Desktop Access
I am open to various scenarios involving direct updating through SharePoint, or even manually updating the forms received through them via email if it is possible.
My most important consideration is data security. User X should not be able to see the details of other users. User-level security from older versions of Access could probably do that but its no longer in the newer version and a check online suggests it isn't the most secure option.
Any help would be much appreciated.
You do not include any information on what kind of data your "forms" includes why you collect the data and what do you want to do with it. At the very least if data from multiple users needs to be combined for any sort of overall reporting.
If the most important consideration is limiting each user to a sub-set of the data then I don't see how you decided MS Access is your best option. Any security on an Access file is easily bypassed. On top of that unless each of your users has their own set of tables you cannot set up any kind of security that isolates their individual information.
To completely isolate user information you have three options:
Use a separate database for each. Then, if you need to, link them all
into a master database in the back end.
Use an isolated front end. You cannot use an Access front end as that
will have to link to the tables; you have to use a separate
interface, either a web type interface or a Windows application that
the user has to log on and has no access to any data other than what
the software is displaying.
Use import/export files. Have access export each user's info to an
Excel sheet or other convenient data file. Let them make their
changes and return the files to you, then import them back into your
database.
I am working on a project and one of the key components is creating customized user profiles. I already have a schema design for the user data that will generate said profile. But I am lost on how the technology works.
I am mostly front-end so it has been sort of overwhelming. The goal is to allow multiple user profile creations and so far I have only seen that this can be achievable via NodeJs or PHP. I have not found any guides.
I am not sure if I am asking the right questions.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Since you mention you already have schema for the user table, I assume you are going to design your own database and backend node.js API to handle user profiles. You may want to build authentication functionalities in the future. If you are not familiar with Node.js yet, I recommend you to start with https://www.tutorialspoint.com/nodejs/index.htm. It's a good tutorial for beginners.
The whole purpose of a back-end node.js API is building numbers of service with specified route. Once a http request is made to a particular path, it takes parameters and execute some script. In you case the scripts will do something in database containing user profile data, for example, add a row in your data table. This operation is equivalent to creating a new user. Then, the API send response to front-end.
Keep in mind maintaining user profile data is nothing special than regular data. You should be able to pick it up with a couple of days training if you know javascriopt. But if you have to build authentication functionality you need more technologies.
My company has an existing framework for online medical data entry. We are now working with some doctors in China who are interested in using this framework, however they have some concerns.
On the technical side, the online data entry forms are written in Racket and saved into a MySQL database on a server in Europe after entry. Their concerns are that in some hospitals, Internet connection might be unstable and thus doctors might lose data that was just entered into a form.
So the question is, is there some possibility to somehow buffer the data offline on the respective doctor's workstation before attempting a save to the MySQL database, in order to reduce the risk of data loss. My first instinct was to answer no, because whatever measures the application might take, it's still a web application, so when the Internet connection breaks, there won't be any possibility on the application side to save the data.
Am I right with my guess or might there be a way of accomplishing this? Another idea was creating a completely new application used for data entry and just send the data to the database when data entry is complete; this is however not feasible for the scope of this project.
Thanks in advance!
You can create a local MySQL database, make all the data from the forms be inserted into this database an then when you're sure you have internet connection you export this data to the remote MySQL database, from a different GUI preferably.
Take a look at this page http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/mysqldump.html and check if it helps.