System and method for identifying a data type associated with an application server

1 . An apparatus configured for identification of a data type associated with an application server, the apparatus comprising:

a non-transient computer-readable storage medium having executable instructions embodied thereon; and

one or more hardware processors configured to execute the instructions to:

determine, based on scanning real-time traffic associated with the application server, a digital certificate type associated with the application server and whether the application server is internet-facing;

examine an application log associated with the application server with respect to presence of masking characters associated with masking personally identifiable information (PII); and

in response to detecting masking characters in the application log:

perform a real-time determination that the application server processes PII data; and

generate a recommendation with respect to additional protection or encryption for the PII data;

generate, based on the determination of whether the application server is internet-facing and based on the digital certificate type associated with the application server, a certificate management assessment result; and

initiate a certificate change if the digital certificate type is determined to be unsuitable with respect to security requirements associated with the application server.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

perform the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data independent of direct access to application data associated with the application server.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

examine the application log with respect to presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data; and

perform the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data in response to one or more of detecting masking characters in the application log and detecting presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

examine a code repository associated with the application server; and

identify class-level or application-level information associated with processing PII data.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

examine a code repository associated with the application server; and

identify presence or absence of a variable name associated with processing PII data.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

generate a security recommendation based on determining that an application programming interface (API) associated with the application server requires additional protection or encryption.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:

receive a feed from a monitoring system, the feed comprising the real-time traffic associated with the application server.

8 . A processor-implemented method of identifying a data type associated with an application server, the method comprising:

determining, based on scanning real-time traffic associated with the application server, a digital certificate type associated with the application server and whether the application server is internet-facing;

examining an application log associated with the application server with respect to presence of masking characters associated with masking personally identifiable information (PII); and

in response to detecting masking characters in the application log:

performing a real-time determination that the application server processes PII data; and

generating a recommendation with respect to additional protection or encryption for the PII data;

generating, based on the determination of whether the application server is internet-facing and based on the digital certificate type associated with the application server, a certificate management assessment result; and

initiating a certificate change if the digital certificate type is determined to be unsuitable with respect to security requirements associated with the application server.

9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

performing the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data independent of direct access to application data associated with the application server.

10 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

examining the application log with respect to presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data; and

performing the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data in response to one or more of detecting marking characters in the application log and detecting presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data.

11 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

examining a code repository associated with the application server; and

identifying class-level or application-level information associated with processing PII data.

12 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

examining a code repository associated with the application server; and

identifying presence or absence of a variable name associated with processing PII data.

13 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

generating a security recommendation based on determining that an application programming interface (API) associated with the application server requires additional protection or encryption.

14 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving a feed from a monitoring system, the feed comprising the real-time traffic associated with the application server.

15 . A non-transient computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform a method of identifying a data type associated with an application server, the method comprising:

determining, based on scanning real-time traffic associated with the application server, a digital certificate type associated with the application server and whether the application server is internet-facing;

examining an application log associated with the application server with respect to presence of masking characters associated with masking personally identifiable information (PII); and

in response to detecting masking characters in the application log:

performing a real-time determination that the application server processes PII data; and

generating a recommendation with respect to additional protection or encryption for the PII data;

generating, based on the determination of whether the application server is internet-facing and based on the digital certificate type associated with the application server, a certificate management assessment result; and

initiating a certificate change if the digital certificate type is determined to be unsuitable with respect to security requirements associated with the application server.

16 . The non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

performing the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data independent of direct access to application data associated with the application server.

17 . The non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

performing the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data independent of direct access to application data associated with the application server.

18 . The non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

examining the application log with respect to presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data; and

performing the real-time determination that the application server processes PII data in response to one or more of detecting marking characters in the application log and detecting presence of a data field name associated with processing PII data.

19 . The non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

examining a code repository associated with the application server; and

identifying class-level or application-level information associated with processing PII data.

20 . The non-transient computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 wherein the method further comprises:

examining a code repository associated with the application server, and

identifying presence or absence of a variable name associated with processing PII data.