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How it works

Three components form the checkpoint

The gateway controls and records, Management sets policies and sends them out, and the desktop agent proves who is connecting. Management is not in the connection path.

Components

What the three components do

Not every connection needs all three. Connections that cannot use the agent reach the gateway directly with an issued connection address or a virtual key.

Internal networkInternetProduction DB networkServer networkDMZManagementAdmin console, policies, accountsAudit storeOpenSearch etc., copies to SIEMAnomaly detectionSigned policyAudit recordsGateway clusterDAC3 nodesGateway clusterServer Gateway2 nodesGateway clusterAI Gateway2 nodesOraclePostgreSQLMySQLweb-01web-02batch-01OpenAIAnthropicGoogle GeminiExternal AI servicesDB toolsssh, sftpAI appsEmployee PCThe desktop agent tunnels to each service's clusterVirtual keyIn-house apps, batch jobsCall LLM APIs with virtual keys
  • Controlled connections
  • Policy distribution
  • Audit records

Checkpoint · Data plane

Gateway Proxy server

A proxy server that runs in front of databases, servers and AI services. This is where control and recording actually happen.

What it does

  • Parses the database wire protocol directly to read connections, SQL statements and query results.
  • Terminates SSH on both sides to read server commands and file transfers.
  • Allows or blocks connections, statements, commands and AI requests by policy.
  • Masks sensitive values in query results and AI requests.
  • Writes audit records directly to the audit store.
Where it runs
On the networks that hold the databases and servers it protects, and at the exit to AI services. Create a cluster for each network and run as many instances as you need.
Who uses it
No one works with it directly. Operators install it, and Management manages it.

Administration · Control plane

Management Includes the admin console

The server that manages policies and accounts. It includes the admin console, the web interface administrators use.

What it does

  • Manages users and groups and integrates with your corporate identity systems.
  • Registers the services to protect and defines access rules, masking and SQL control.
  • Signs policies and deploys them to the responsible gateways.
  • Runs approvals for access requests and shows audit records.
  • Detects anomalous activity in audit records and runs justification and review.
Where it runs
A single instance, installed where gateways and agents can reach it.
Who uses it
Security administrators, DBAs, server administrators

Identity · User PCs

Desktop agent App for employee PCs

An app installed on employee PCs. It proves to the gateway who is connecting.

What it does

  • Signs in with a company account and receives a signed identity assertion.
  • Intercepts only connections to registered services and sends them to the responsible gateway.
  • Attaches an identity assertion to every connection, so people stay distinguishable even when they share a database account.
  • Shows the services the user can connect to and accepts access requests.
Where it runs
Employee PCs. macOS and Windows are supported.
Who uses it
Employees who use database tools, SSH and AI tools

  • Management is not in the connection path

    Data on its way to databases, servers and AI services passes only through the gateway. If Management stops, running gateways keep controlling and recording with the policies they already have.

  • The agent is not what blocks connections

    The agent sends connections to the gateway and proves identity. Closing every other route is the job of the database and server firewalls.

  • Users do not change connection addresses

    Users enter the real address and their usual account in their database tool and in ssh. Interception turns on automatically when they sign in to the agent.

Processing

How a single connection is handled

Follow a developer who connects to a production database from a database tool on their PC and runs a query.

  1. 1

    Sign-in

    The user signs in to the desktop agent with a company account. Management returns the list of services the user can connect to and a signed identity assertion.

  2. 2

    Connection attempt

    The user enters the real database address and database account in the database tool and connects. The agent intercepts only connections to registered services.

  3. 3

    Tunnel

    The agent opens a mutual TLS (mTLS) tunnel to the responsible gateway and sends the identity assertion and the original destination first.

  4. 4

    Connection decision

    The gateway decides whether this person may connect to this service with this database account, taking location and time of day into account. If the connection is not allowed, it is closed before it reaches the database.

  5. 5

    Login relay

    The gateway connects to the database and relays the login exchange as is. The database decides whether the password is correct.

  6. 6

    SQL control

    Each time a statement runs, the gateway checks whether it is a forbidden type of statement.

  7. 7

    Result masking

    The gateway masks sensitive values in the results the database returns before passing them to the user.

  8. 8

    Audit logging

    The session, statements, decisions and row counts are written to the audit store with the user's name.

While the connection stays open, the gateway re-evaluates it periodically. When the allowed time ends or a policy changes, it closes the open session.

Deployment

From a single server to clusters across networks

Wherever you install it, what runs is one Management instance and the gateways. Each network gets its own gateway cluster, and one Management instance manages them all.

DeploymentStatusDetails
Single server (Docker Compose)AvailableInstalls Management, the gateway, PostgreSQL and Caddy on one host. An install script handles installation, version changes and rollback. For air-gapped networks, everything comes in one bundle.
Gateway on a Linux VM (systemd)AvailableInstalls gateway nodes on VMs without containers. When you start an upgrade from the admin console, each node downloads the new version and replaces itself.
Kubernetes (Helm), AWS, AzureIn progressThe install templates are being finalized for deployment to real environments.

Design principles

A product that sits in the path must itself be trustworthy

BeeHind is designed around five principles.

  1. 01

    No central store of database passwords

    The gateway does not log in to the database on the user's behalf; it relays the login as is. The database decides whether the password is correct. Passwords kept in one place turn that place into a target.

  2. 02

    When in doubt, block

    Statements the gateway cannot parse and connections whose content it cannot see are never treated as allowed. If it cannot work out where a column that must be masked appears in the result, it rejects the statement.

  3. 03

    Control continues when Management is down

    Management is not in the connection path. Running gateways keep making decisions with the policies they already have, and they write audit records straight to the audit store.

  4. 04

    Policies apply only after their signature is verified

    Management signs each policy, and gateways apply only policies whose signature they have verified. The password of the lookup account that reads schemas and the API keys of AI services never go into a policy. They are encrypted and sent separately, only to the gateways responsible for them.

  5. 05

    Audit records only what actually happened

    Anything that was not confirmed is recorded as not confirmed. If the row count could not be determined, it is recorded as "unknown", not 0. Records are linked in a hash chain, so a change to any record in the middle shows up on verification.

Supported environments

Supported databases, servers, AI services and platforms

BeeHind makes no external network calls at runtime, so you can bring it into an air-gapped network.

As of October 2026

Protected databases
MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server
Protected AI services
OpenAI-compatible APIs (OpenAI, Google Gemini, DeepSeek and others), Anthropic API, claude.ai web app, MCP servers (Streamable HTTP)
AI upstream targets
Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Claude Platform on AWS, Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI
Server access
SSH (access control, command control and audit, session recording and playback, port forwarding destination limits), SFTP (file transfer control and per-file audit), TCP ports (coming soon)
Desktop agent
macOS 13.4 or later (Apple silicon), Windows 10, Windows 11 (x64)
Sign-in integration
LDAP, Active Directory, OIDC, SAML 2.0, SCIM 2.0, passkeys
Audit store
OpenSearch, Elasticsearch, relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle)
SIEM forwarding
syslog (RFC 5424), Splunk HEC
Anomaly detection
Nine preset detection rules, per-person review and justification, monthly inspection reports, SIEM forwarding

Terms

Useful terms

Words that appear often in the product screens and documentation.

Gateway cluster
A group of gateway nodes that handle the same services together. You create a cluster for each network and assign a responsible cluster to each service.
Interception
The desktop agent catches connections to registered services on the PC and sends them to the gateway. Users do not change connection addresses.
Agentless
A path where clients connect directly to the gateway with an issued connection address, without the agent. Used by contractor PCs, BI tools and batch servers.
Identity assertion
A short-lived proof that Management signs and issues to a signed-in user. The gateway verifies the signature to identify the person.
Authentication relay
The gateway does not log in to the database on the client's behalf; it passes the login between the client and the database as is. The database checks the password.
Credential injection
The gateway logs in to the target server on the user's behalf with a stored password or SSH key, or with a certificate created for each connection. Users do not need to know the server's password.
TLS termination
The gateway decrypts an encrypted connection, inspects the content and re-encrypts it before sending it to the database.
Lineage
A calculation of which source column each cell of a query result came from. It is how the gateway finds sensitive fields hidden behind aliases or functions.
Value pattern
A rule that finds values with a fixed format, such as national ID numbers and card numbers. Used for both database results and AI requests.
Virtual key
A key that BeeHind issues to users and applications. When the gateway forwards a request, it swaps in your company's real key (organization key).
Fail-closed
Denying, rather than allowing, when a decision cannot be made. Another name for the "when in doubt, block" principle.

See BeeHind in your own environment

Tell us which databases, servers and AI services you need to protect and how your network is laid out. We will recommend a setup and a rollout order. You can start with a single server.

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