Data Protection in PubSub+ Cloud

Management, monitoring, and messaging data are the types of data that flow through PubSub+ Cloud. Each of these types of data take separate and well-defined paths. Logically, PubSub+ Cloud is split into two data planes called the control plane (for management and monitoring data) and a messaging plane (for messaging data). For more information, see Control Plane Data and Messaging Plane Data.

All data is secure and encrypted while stationary or in transit. For more information about data encryption, see Encryption.

The following diagram shows how the planes logically look in a typical deployment:

There is a clear separation between the control plane data [management and monitoring (metadata and logs) data] and the messaging plane [messaging data (events, messages, files, any artifacts that are part of event payload)]. The diagram shows the event broker services within both planes in a Customer-Controlled Region as an example, but the separation of control plane and messaging plane data is the same in any type of deployment.

The diagram also shows a Kubernetes clusters and depicts how the Mission Control Agent handles management data between the event broker services and PubSub+ Home Cloud. This architecture keeps the management/monitoring data separate from the messaging data. For information about the various data flows, see Data Flows within a Customer Environment.

One important aspect to consider regarding messaging data is the sovereignty of the data. This comes down to the where the data resides in a geographical location. Since the PubSub+ Cloud platform can be geographically diverse, it's a good idea to consider this as part of your overall security and data strategy. To address this, you can deploy to a Dedicated Region based on geography. For more information, see Data Sovereignty.

Data Flows within a Customer Environment

The data involved in a deployment of event broker services can be categorized into these types:

Management Data

Management data is sent between the Mission Control Agent, PubSub+ Home Cloud, and event broker services. Management data includes configuration information for event broker services and metadata that is sent back to Solace through secure ports. For more information, see Control Plane Data.

Monitoring Data

Monitoring data (statistics and event broker logs) are sent to a central monitoring service (Datadog) through secure ports. Transmission of monitoring data is via secure HTTP. Datadog agents use SEMP-based calls to collect statistics and logs from the event broker services. In most cases, monitoring data is one-way, but for users that use dashboards in Datadog, the monitoring data is configurable via a connection – hence it is shown as two-way data flow. For more information, see Control Plane Data.

Messaging Data

Messaging data (which includes events, payloads of messages) refers to the information between the event broker services and the publishing and subscribing client applications. No customer data leaves the customer environment if the client applications connect from within the same VPC/VNet. Messaging data is resident within the customer's perimeter (in their VPC/VNet). For more information, see Messaging Plane Data.

Any messages transmitted between client applications and the event broker services are secured using encryption, by default. Data stored in the VPC/VNet is encrypted. For more information about data encryption, see Encryption.

Control Plane Data

The control plane consists of both management and monitoring data. Management data uses secure SEMP calls to perform tasks such as configuring event broker services, configuring certificates for PubSub+ Cloud, and communicating with the Mission Control Agent. Monitoring data encompasses gather monitoring statistics and logs, which is done using Datadog agents on each event broker (this means there are three Datadog agents in a High-Availability service). The statistics and logs that Datadog agents collect use SEMPv2 based interfaces.

The Control Plane uses secure HTTPS calls to make API calls to cloud vendors to configure DNS records and manage compute instances (EC2 Instances, Virtual Machines, etc.).

The management data from the control plane travels within a secured communication channel with the PubSub+ Home Cloud and the central monitoring service. Solace uses this data to manage and monitor the health of the event broker services. Management data comes from various functions, including:

• User interactions with the PubSub+ Cloud Console to create and manage event broker services. The creation of an event broker service is handled ultimately by the Mission Control Agent deployed in the same VPC/VNet.
• User interactions from the Broker Manager, which directly connects to an event broker service.
• Collection of metadata and logs that are sent to the central monitoring service. The monitoring information is sent between PubSub+ Home Cloud and the user.

Information from event broker services is collected to monitor the health of the event broker services. For information on the logs collected, see Event Broker Service Logs.

Messaging Plane Data

The messaging plane contains the events, data, and payload of the messages that are transported between the event broker services and client applications. Messaging data exists in its own plane and is not accessible from the control plane.

• For more information, see Event Broker Services.
• For more information about the protocols and APIs used for messaging, see Open APIs & Protocols.

Encryption

All data in PubSub+ Cloud is encrypted. Encryption occurs to data that is in transit (transmitted via events and messages) and at rest (stored in persistent storage for queues). Any logs, management data, or statistics collected are also encrypted.

Encryption is a consideration for data in transit and when it's stored. Sensitive data is treated with additional care on PubSub+ Cloud.

Encryption of Data in Transit

Data that is transmitted between the client applications (both publishers and subscribers) and the event broker services is secure. By default, the messaging data that is brokered by the event broker services between publishers (producers) and subscribers (consumers) is secured in the following manner:

• event broker services use messaging protocols and ports that are secured with TLS 1.2 (default)
  • non-encrypted protocols (plain-text ports) are available for configuration to support legacy applications, but are disabled by default; plain-text, non-encrypted protocols are not recommended for production environments
• certificates are regularly updated and whenever Security Advisory concerns require resolution

Data at Rest

Data at rest is any data stored on message spools (virtual, persistent, and external persistent storage). By default, Solace applies encryption to all persistent data at rest. We apply encryption to all online and backup disks to ensure data remains protected. We use server-side encryption for storage services (S3, databases, etc.).

In Public Regions and Dedicated Regions, we encrypt data at rest using AES-256 and the Key Management Service (KMS) of your chosen cloud provider. Solace uses the following principles when storing data:

• Encrypt by default; encryption is not optional.

• Use cloud vendor KMS to encrypt disks using AES-256 encryption.

• Encrypt sensitive data on the Control Plane before storage using AES-256 encryption.

• Encrypted disks store messaging data reside in the same cloud region as the event broker service.

Self-Managed Encryption Keys for Dedicated Regions

Solace supports self-managed encryption keys for some Dedicated Region cloud providers. With a self-managed encryption key, you control access to your data and can revoke the key at any time. Solace currently supports the following self-managed encryption keys:

• AWS Key Management Service

• Azure Key Vault

• Google Cloud Key Management

When choosing to encrypt the data at rest in your event broker service's message spools using a self-managed encryption key, the key remains in your account with your cloud provider. You must provide Solace with permission to use the key in your PubSub+ Cloud account.

Encryption of Sensitive Data

Sensitive data, like passwords are hashed using BCrypt and credentials are encrypted using AES-256.

Data Sovereignty

Data sovereignty refers to the laws and governance that the collection and storage of data adheres to, which is based on the nation where the data resides or is collected. Since the data is separated into two planes, the sovereignty of the data is as follows:

• Messaging data remains with the event broker services, it adheres to the laws of the geographical region where the event broker services are deployed. The sovereignty of messaging data is a common use case for security regulations and this can be decided by the customer.

  To address messaging data sovereignty requirements, Solace recommends the event broker services be installed in a private network (e.g., Kubernetes cluster in a VPC/VNet) in the region where the data must be. For example, if the data must stay within a particular geographical region, deploy the event broker services in that geographical region using private network. For more information about VPC/VNet isolation, see VPC/VNet Isolation.

• Management data comprises of logs, statistics, and metadata. The metadata is utilized and stored by the PubSub+ Home Cloud and PubSub+ Cloud Console (including Event Portal, Insights, and Cluster Manager), which is referred to as the regional site. A third-party central monitoring service (Datadog) collects and stores operational logs, metrics, and statistics that are used for central monitoring from the Home Cloud.

  Though less common is the sovereignty of management data, but if this is a requirement, Solace offers different regional sites from which you can choose.

  Using different regional sites for the Home Clouds gives you these benefits or capabilities:

  • allows you to store your data in a specific geographic location
  • enables you to adhere to the laws of the country where the site resides [e.g., comply with regulatory requirements for personal identifiable information (PII) ] or address data sovereignty concerns
  • potentially minimize latency depending on the geographic location and network topology from which you users connect

  The following table shows you the URL (where <custom_domain> is the string for your custom domain) to use to connect to the PubSub+ Cloud Console for each regional site and the location where the Home Cloud resides.

  Regional Site	Cloud Console URL	Cloud Console URL (SSO-enabled)	Location of Home Cloud
  United States	https://console.solace.cloud/	https://<custom_domain>.solace.cloud/login	United States of America
  Australia	https://console.solacecloud.com.au/	https://<custom.domain>.solacecloud.com.au/login	Australia
  European Union	https://console.solacecloud.eu/	https://<custom.domain>.solacecloud.eu/login	Frankfurt
  Singapore	https://console.solacecloud.sg/	https://<custom.domain>.solacecloud.sg/login	Singapore

  The regional sites in Australia (AUS) and Singapore (SG) currently support only Dedicated Regions and Customer-Controlled Regions. They do not support Public Regions.