1. A method comprising: comparing at least one aspect of a query to access a data store to one or more rule sets associated with the data store to determine at least one potential access path within the data store for responding to the query, wherein said comparing the at least one aspect is carried out prior to executing said query on the data store; comparing information pertaining to an entity responsible for submission of the query to risk information pertaining to one or more entities to determine a level of risk associated with the entity, wherein said risk information comprises an established risk level attributed to (i) one or more internet protocol addresses pertaining to the one or more entities and (ii) one or more account identifiers pertaining to the one or more entities, wherein said comparing comprises comparing the one or more internet protocol addresses pertaining to the one or more entities to (a) a white list of internet protocol addresses and (b) a list of internet protocol addresses linked to fraudulent activity, and wherein said comparing the information is carried out prior to executing said query on the data store; generating a modified version of the query based on information derived from the at least one potential access path within the data store for responding to the query, wherein said generating comprises re-formatting one or more Rete-based rules to reduce response data resulting from the query, and wherein said generating the modified version of the query is carried out prior to executing said query on the data store; calculating a risk score associated with the modified version of the query based on (i) the level of risk associated with the entity responsible for submission of the query, (ii) one or more aspects of the modified version of the query, and (iii) a correlation between the level of risk associated with the entity and at least one of one or more historical use cases and one or more policy parameters, wherein said calculating is carried out prior to executing said modified version of the query on the data store; determining, based on the risk score, one or more of multiple authentication operations to be implemented prior to executing the modified version of the query on the data store; and implementing the one or more authentication operations prior to executing the modified version of the query on the data store.