Biometric virtual machine image administration

• US 10,027,661 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2015
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dow, Eli M., Fitzsimmons, Thomas D., Garrett, Tynan J., Metruck, Emily M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cribbs, Malcolm
• Application Number:
  US14/933,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20170134374A1
• Time in Patent Office: 985 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

A method for receiving a virtual machine image comprising configuring a user device to receive a virtual machine image, receive a biometric input from a user, send a request for a virtual machine image to a server, the request including data corresponding to the biometric input, and receive the virtual machine image.

Claims

1. A method for receiving a virtual machine image, the method comprising:

configuring a user device to receive a virtual machine image;

receiving a biometric input from a user;

sending a request for a virtual machine image to a server, the request including data corresponding to the biometric input, wherein the virtual machine image is stored on the server and is associated with biometric data for a plurality of users that are authorized to access the virtual machine image;

receiving, by the user device, the virtual machine image including the biometric data for the plurality of users, wherein the virtual machine is received in segments based on demand paging by the user device and wherein the virtual machine is received in an encrypted format; and

based on a determination that the biometric input from the user matches the biometric data for one of the plurality of users, decrypting, installing and running, by the user device, the virtual machine image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising instantiating the received virtual machine image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user device includes a biometric sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the biometric input includes a fingerprint input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine image is associated with a biometric input from the user prior to storing the virtual machine image on the server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine image is operative to be run on the user device as a virtual machine.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine image includes a persistent virtual machine image representing a serialized state of the virtual machine.

8. A method for administering virtual machine images, the method comprising:

receiving a virtual machine image that is associated with user biometric data from a user device;

storing the virtual machine image and the associated user biometric data in a memory, wherein the virtual machine image is associated with the user biometric data and with biometric data for one or more additional users that are authorized to access the virtual machine image;

receiving, from the user device, a request for a virtual machine image, the request including biometric data input by the user;

determining whether the received biometric data input by the user from the request for the virtual machine image matches the associated user biometric data in the memory; and

sending the requested virtual machine image to the user device responsive to determining that the received biometric data input by the user from the request for the virtual machine image matches the associated user biometric data in the memory, wherein the requested virtual machine is sent in segments based on demand paging by the user device, sent in an encrypted format and includes biometric data for the plurality of users authorized to access the virtual machine image.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the biometric data input by the user includes a fingerprint biometric data.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the virtual machine image is associated with a biometric input from the user prior to storing the virtual machine image in the memory.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the virtual machine image is operative to be run on the user device as a virtual machine.

12. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

configuring a user device to receive a virtual machine image;

receiving, from the user device, a biometric input from a user;

sending a request for a virtual machine image to a server, the request including data corresponding to the biometric input, wherein the virtual machine image is stored on the server and is associated with biometric data for a plurality of users that are authorized to access the virtual machine image; and

receiving, by the user device, the virtual machine image including the biometric data for the plurality of users, wherein the virtual machine is received in segments based on demand paging by the user device and wherein the virtual machine is received in an encrypted format; and

based on a determination that the biometric input from the user matches the biometric data for one of the plurality of users, decrypting, installing and running, by the user device, the virtual machine image.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, the method further comprising installing and running the received virtual machine image.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the user device includes a biometric sensor.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the biometric input includes a fingerprint input.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the virtual machine image is associated with a biometric input from the user prior to storing the virtual machine image on the server.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the virtual machine image is operative to be run on the user device as a virtual machine.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the virtual machine image is includes an image generated by the user device.