About Secure Views¶

For most databases like Snowflake and Redshift DB, native enforcement of row-level security (RLS) and column-level masking is supported. However, some databases like PostgreSQL and Databricks SQL do not support native enforcement of RLS and column-level masking. In such cases, Privacera provides a feature called Secure Views to enforce these security measures.

Here is an example of accessing a table through a Secure View:

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    -- Secure View
    SELECT * FROM account_secure.customer;

Key Advantages

• Dynamic Enforcement: Secure Views allow for the enforcement of RLS and column-level masking dynamically without modifying the underlying database schema.
• Layered Security: Secure Views are created on top of existing tables, and RLS and column-level masking policies are applied to the views. When a user queries the Secure View, these policies are dynamically enforced.

Implementation

• Creation of Secure Views: For each table that requires RLS and column-level masking, Privacera creates a Secure View. Users are mandated to access data through these Secure Views, and Privacera grants access accordingly.
• Naming Convention: The naming convention for Secure Views is configurable. By default, Privacera creates a new database or schema with the same name as the original, appended with a _secure suffix, and creates Secure Views within this schema. The Secure Views have the same names as the original tables for easy identification.

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant PrivaceraConnector
    participant Database

    PrivaceraConnector->>Database: Get metadata on regular intervals
    Database-->>PrivaceraConnector: Databases, Schemas and Tables
    PrivaceraConnector->>Database: Create Secure View for each table
    PrivaceraConnector->>Database: Grant privileges to user for Secure View
    User->>Database: Query Secure View
    Note right of Database: RLS and column-level masking enforced dynamically
    Database-->>User: Return data with RLS and column-level masking applied

Limitations

1. Only SELECT Queries Supported: Secure Views support only SELECT queries.
2. Query Updates Required: Users need to update their existing queries to use the new namespace (e.g., database or schema name) or table name.

Data Admin¶

Some users may need the ability to update the data in the tables. These users can be granted the Data Admin privilege in Privacera. The Data Admin privilege allows users to update data in the underlying tables. However, for these users, RLS and column-level masking policies are not enforced.

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