Abstract: A non-transitory computer readable storage medium has instructions executed by a processor to intercept a query statement at a master machine. The query statement is an instruction from a client machine that specifies how data managed by a distributed storage system should be processed and provided back to the client. In the communication between the client and the master machine, tokens associated with the statement are evaluated to selectively identify a pattern match of one of connection pattern tokens, login pattern tokens or query pattern tokens. For the query pattern tokens, altered tokens for the query statement are formed in response to the pattern match to establish a revised statement. The revised statement is produced in response to application of a policy rule. The revised statement maintains computation, logic and procedure of the statement, but alters parameters of the statement as specified by the policy rule.