Removing literals in Foglight (4375121)

All of the database cartridges collect SQL Statements which might include PII data.

By default Foglight will replace Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or “sensitive” data before transferring performance information to the Foglight environment. This will be done by replacing string, integer and decimal literals that are found in SQL statements and queries with placeholder data which has no reference to the original PII or sensitive data. This placeholder data cannot be reversed into the original data and has no association with that data. 

A parameter will be added to enable the user to change the default to collecting all data with a warning message.

This functionality allows Foglight to meeting GDPR and HIPPA standards by removing literals and allowing users to use it without concern.

The mechanism to remove literals should be available for all the DB cartridges. At the time of the collection, before storing the data, each cartridge should remove literals by calling this mechanism.

The functionality will remove literals

• from any statements/query
• deadlocks
• alarms that include SQL (e.g. SQL Server - Long Running SQL)
• execution plans

A customer-facing feature is available to enable/disable the functionality. This will only be at the FMS level using one parameter and will then be applied to all domains. Changing the state will show a clear message about the implication of the state change and request the user to confirm the state change.

Only Foglight administrators will have this capability.

• In Foglight Cloud it will be enabled by default and only either the Cloud Administrator or Cloud Owner can change the state.
• In on-premises Foglight installations this will be disabled by default and only a Foglight Administrator can change the state.
  
  
  

Numbers

1. The numeric value (integer and decimal) we use for replacement will be a valid number

2. The pattern will be 1 and then trailing zeros to the size of the original number.

   1. i.e. 387 > 100; 45827 > 10000; 12 > 10

Strings

1. Specifically String (type) values are to be removed.
2. Replace the string value with a default value of roughly 5-10 characters: ***Removed by Foglight***

Activating the Remove Literal function

This functionality is activated at the FMS level and can be accessed by the following:

1. Navigate to Administration | Credentials | Manage Credentials. 
2. In the credential named Remove Literals (Do not delete!), edit the properties of the credential. 

   

    

3. Enable or disable to functionality using the checkbox.

   

4. Click the Save button

Status

This functionality was included in Foglight Cloud and SQL Server cartridge beginning with the 7.1  release as part of enhancement FOG-5389. Other cartridges such as DB2, Oracle, and Azure SQL inclided the enhancement in the 7.2.1 or 7.2.2 versions and higher.