Securing sensitive historian configuration information

A computer system comprising:

• a cloud-based data store comprising a plurality of data sets, at least one of the data sets storing time series data representative of historical plant process information and at least one other of the data sets storing configuration information, wherein the configuration information is configured for use by a cloud service associated with the data store;
• one or more processors coupled to the cloud service via a data communication network;
• a memory device coupled to the one or more processors, said memory device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform a method for securely obtaining the configuration information from the cloud service, wherein the method comprises:
• querying a protected configuration data file using the service role;
• using a generated certificate associated with the service role and associated with the protected configuration data file to transform the protected configuration data file into an accessible protected configuration data file;
• and
• generating a secure entry for a secure output file log based at least in part upon the service role performing the query and the certificate.

A computer-implemented method for securely providing and obtaining configuration information using a cloud service, wherein the method comprises receiving, from a user terminal authorized according to a service role, configuration information related to the cloud service;

• storing the received configuration information in a configuration data file, wherein the cloud service reads configuration settings from the configuration data file when deployed thereto;
• generating a certificate and applying the certificate to the configuration data file to transform the configuration data file into a protected configuration data file;
• deploying the protected configuration data file for querying by a service role of the cloud service for enabling secure storage of the configuration information;
• querying the protected configuration data file using the service role;
• using a generated certificate to generate an accessible protected configuration file, wherein the generated certificate is associated with the service role and the protected configuration data file;
• and
• generating an entry comprising a secure entry for a secure output file log based at least in part upon the service role performing the query.